1779 (ca. 1874) Henry Lee Hook Medal. Betts-575, Julian MI-5. Bronze. SP-63 (PCGS).

45.3 mm. 817.1 grains. One of the rarest of the Comitia Americana medals, struck from the original 1793 obverse die by Joseph Wright and a copy reverse in the last quarter of the 19th century. Even light brown and tan, with some navy blue highlights on the obverse. Nicely preserved and problem free aside from a small rim nick atop the reverse. The ancient obverse is cracked and broken, and shows many raised die polish lines from the reclamation project that preceded the production of collector strikes like this one. With a mintage of just 35 pieces, it is not surprising that the great John Ford did not acquire a specimen of this medal until the 2001 sale of the Lucien LaRiviere cabinet, making this the last of the Comitia Americana series he acquired.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Lucien LaRiviere Collection, May 21, 2001, lot 1079; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XIV, May 2006, lot 209.