Indian Peace Medals

Popular 1871 U.S. Grant Peace Medal

1871 Ulysses S. Grant Indian Peace Medal. Julian IP-42, Prucha-53. Silver. Very Fine.

63.6 mm. 1509.9 grains. Pierced for suspension as typical of issued medals. Attractive medium to dark gray with a few minor natural surface deposits noted in some of the finer recesses, as well as a small area of residue in the right obverse field. Many fine scratches and scattered marks are seen under magnification, consistent with an awarded Peace medal. The Grant medals were struck on two different weight standards, suggesting two different periods of production, although this does not necessarily mean that they were separated by any long period of time. As our weight data is taken in most cases from worn medals, it is difficult to pinpoint what the exact original weight standards were. However, we can approximate, and that approximation leads to a possible explanation. The weight standard for U.S. silver minor coins from 1853 until the Act of 1873 was 384 grains per $1 of face value. The Act of 1873 raised the weight of minor coins only slightly, but introduced the trade dollar on a much heavier weight standard (just slightly heavier than the discontinued Liberty Seated silver dollar, which was already being produced on a substantially higher standard than minor coins). The standard for the trade dollar, at 420 grains per $1, represented a 9.3% difference in weight from the minor coinage. From the rough data we have collected, it appears that the difference between the lighter standard Grant medals and the heavier standard, is about 13%. Therefore, it seems likely that the change in weight standard probably corresponds in some manner to the Act of 1873, though the data does not provide a perfectly clear explanation. Since the Act of 1873 was just two years after the initial production of the Grant medals and well within a reasonable time frame for the administration to order additional impressions for presentation, this seems to be a likely point for a shift to a heavier weight standard. According to Father Prucha’s research, the original expectation for the Grant medals was that they would weight 3.1 ounces each, or 1488 grains. Therefore, we suspect that the lighter standard medals did in fact come first, since those seem to generally weigh between 1500 and 1530 grains. Heavier standard medals are generally 1700 to 1750 grains. This piece was a duplicate to that offered in our November 2020 sale of the Larry Ness Collection.

From the Larry Ness Collection.

Estimate: $ 4000