1825 John Quincy Adams Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Third Size. Julian IP-13, Prucha-42. About Uncirculated.

51.1 mm. 1099.6 grains. Neatly pierced for suspension. Fairly bright silver surfaces retain significant prooflike character in the fields, while the overall aesthetic is evened out a bit by light polishing. Scattered nicks and marks on both sides, none of which is individually noteworthy. Quite sharp and aesthetically very pleasing. When Michael Hodder described this piece in Ford Part XVI (lot 124), he proposed it to be a restrike, and described reverse die rust in the field beneath PEACE. This can indeed be detected with very close study, as can other small spots of similar roughness in other places on both sides. A trace of a die line through the R of FRIENDSHIP is easier to see and matches that on sharper bronze examples we have examined. This reverse die was used for all small-size medals from Madison to Polk, and for some Zachary Taylor medals, as well. It is known in three distinct die states across the entire usage. The Madison medals rightfully exhibit the two earliest states, one with no die chip in the rim at 3:00, and the second state with a single small chip. This medal is the third state, with two chips in this area, and most of the presidential issues exist in this state. Bronze Taylor medals exist from this die with a single die chip, so we know that any medal exhibiting two breaks must date to after the 1849 completion of the Taylor obverse. A small-size John Quincy Adams from the original dies in silver is very rare. According to Robert Julian, just 48 were originally struck. We are aware of perhaps 10 different examples in silver, and four of these are from the late state reverse seen here. This said, six of the 10 are in institutional collections, so this is a very difficult medal to obtain in silver.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from the Dr. William Bridge Collection, World Exonumia (Rich Hartzog), September 199 1, lot 1055; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVI, October 2006, lot 124; our (Stack's) sale of May 2007, lot 205.