1814 George III Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Small Size. Adams 14.2. Extremely Fine.

37.7 mm. 529.4 grains. Original suspension hanger intact. Deep gray with mottled overtones of olive brown and steel blue across both sides. Slightly more heavily toned outlines are noted around the devices and in the intricate recesses. Somewhat glossy in appearance with the fields gently reflective. Generally quite sharp and nicely preserved, though the finer details on this issue seem to be blunted a bit, as made. This was struck using a signed obverse die, with Wyon's bold imprint just below George's truncation, and the laurel leaves pointing directly at the TI of GRATIA. This corresponds to Adams' description of 14.2, but his plates are reversed so that his image is labeled as 14.1. Adding some confusion, his description for 14.1 notes that the die is unsigned, but the medal imaged is signed. It seems that there are three variants: Laurel leaves point to TI of GRATIA. Signed. (Adams 14.1 plate, 14.2 description) Laurel leaves point to AB of GRATIA BRIT. Signed (Adams 14.2 plate, 14.1 description, but signed) Laurel leaves point to TI of GRATIA. Unsigned. (Ford XVI:77) It is worth noting that the Adams 14.2 plate piece also has a differently styled bust, with far more developed curls around and below the back of the truncation. This seems to be the rarest variant, as it does not appear in our online archives at all and is known to us only by this Adams plate. Adams found only nine examples of the small-size 1814 medal for his census, but his #4 is described as a bronze electrotype, and his #8 is called a trial piece in lead. That leaves just seven pieces, with two or three of these in institutional collections. Our archives include just three distinct medals in silver, including this.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from A.H. Baldwin & Sons, Ltd., July 1971; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVI, October 2006, lot 78.