Indian Peace Medals

Extremely Rare Original Tyler Medal

The Third Size

1841 John Tyler Indian Peace Medal. Third Size. Julian IP-23, Prucha-45. Silver. Very Fine, or so.

50.8 mm. 884.2 grains. Pierced for suspension at 12:00, as issued, with the upper edge somewhat thinned by long-term wearing of this piece. Medium gray silver with soft green, gold and blue overtones. A fairly well-handled medal with many small abrasions of varying depths and a few very faint scratches. Aside from small marks over the portrait and below the clasped hands, most marks require magnification to discern individually. Evenly struck and worn, with a nicely balanced appearance as a result. There seems to be a minor bend in the flan, a condition not unusual on a Peace medal that was clearly awarded and worn. Virtually identical to the medal offered in the November 2020 Ness Collection offering, this being his duplicate. A single small die chip is seen outside of the inner rim border just below the 3:00 position. This die was used to strike all medals of this size bearing dates 1809 through 1845, as well as some Zachary Taylor restrikes. This is the earlier of the two states observed and clearly an original, one of the 100 reported struck between December 1842 and January 1843. Of those 100 medals, we are aware of just four or five that exhibit the early die state, guaranteeing them to be original impressions. One of the five is unconfirmed as to die state, but the degree and pattern of the wear is strongly suggestive of an early state medal. The other five third-size Tyler medals we are aware of are all the later state. As such, originals of this size are just as rare as the first-size medals and have probably been underappreciated over the years. An old green silk ribbon is included with this lot, as is an NGC tag identifying this medal simply as “Genuine.”

From the Larry Ness Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) January 2009 sale, lot 5113, unsold; U.P. Coin & Card, Bessemer, Michigan, via eBay, March 2012.

Estimate: $ 5000