1825 John Quincy Adams Indian Peace Medal. Silver. First Size. Julian IP-11, Prucha-42. Choice Very Fine.

75.4 mm. 2433.3 grains. Pierced for suspension just above the DE of PRESIDENT, as is precisely the case on all other issued silver examples seen. Mostly medium gray silver with soft blue overtones blending into deeper gray patina closer to the rims. Myriad tiny nicks and other marks are distributed fairly evenly over the surfaces, as typical of an issued and worn medal. However, this piece is free of more serious damage that is also frequently encountered on these large medals. A somewhat thin silver suspension loop remains through the piercing and may be the original, as it is in consistent style to at least five or six others still affixed to large Adams medals. Sharply double struck on the reverse, mostly seen in the letters of the legends where there is a shift of nearly the full width of a letter. As discussed in our Ness Collection sale last year, there were 95 large-size John Quincy Adams medals struck and there seems to have been a good deal of demand for them. Lewis Cass, Governor of the Michigan Territory, had personally requested 100 examples for distribution therein. As such, it seems that most of those struck were likely distributed. Carl Carlson identified nine auction records for these medals. Michael Hodder did not venture a guess as to the number of specimens in cataloging four of them in the John Ford sales. The writer's own recent survey of specimens has revealed 22 distinct examples, with eight in institutional collections. This medal has been off the market since NASCA's Kessler-Spangenberger sale in 1981. It also comes with an old hide suspension cord. While 22 pieces may seem like a healthy number of survivors, these are actually scarcely offered. This is the third offering of a first-size Adams we have had since 2018, but prior to 2018, it had been 11 years since one appeared in our sales-none since the time of the last Ford Collection offering in May 2007. It seems that collectors fortunate enough to get one of these large medals tend to keep them.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from NASCA's Kessler-Spangenberger Sale, April 1981, lot 1600.