Indian Peace Medals

Very Rare Third-Size Jackson in Silver

1829 Andrew Jackson Indian Peace Medal. Third Size. Julian IP-16, Prucha-43. Silver. About Uncirculated.

51.1 mm. 1089.7 grains. Neatly pierced for suspension at 12:00. Relatively light silver gray with some slightly deeper gray patina close to the rims and a spray of tiny dark spots across the obverse as seen on several of the medals with the Dr. William Bridge provenance. Very sharp and mildly prooflike on both sides. Lightly hairlined, and with patches of seemingly intentional microscopic abrading visible in the fields that was probably intended to minimize the light spalling and die rust. No serious marks otherwise. This medal was struck from later states of both dies, the reverse being most notable for the two small die chips in the recess of the rim at 3:00. A single chip, the upper one, is seen on nearly all medals from this die, from the Madison medals through those for Taylor (only restrikes, in the latter case), but the second break did not occur until at least 1850, so we at least have a start date for the earliest possible vintage of the numerous silver medals featuring this late state. By 1850, the Jackson obverse featured here had seen little use since the spring of 1832, so it makes sense that it shows some light rusting. It is not known when or for what purpose these late-state medals were struck, but they exist for most presidents from John Quincy Adams to Zachary Taylor; they were made at roughly the same time and are clearly products of the U.S. Mint. They are uniformly of good quality, consistently pierced and rare. Of the 20 third-size Jackson medals known to the present writer, just three are from the late die state. For the Peace medal purist, these medals may be deemed less desirable, but they are ideal for collectors of U.S. Mint medals as they deliver a standard of preservation and aesthetics rarely found for issued Peace medals. This one was removed from an NGC holder, graded AU-55. The tag is included with this lot.

From the Larry Ness Collection. Earlier from the Dr. William Bridge Collection, World Exonumia (Richard Hartzog), September 1991, lot 1056; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVIII, May 2007, lot 97; Felix Brejente via eBay, September 2008.

Estimate: $ 5000