1829 Andrew Jackson Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Second Size. Julian IP-15, Prucha-43. Choice About Uncirculated.

62.4 mm. 1446.0 grains. Pierced for suspension as on all seen, with what is probably the original loop intact. An exceptional specimen of the rarest size among the Jackson medals and easily one of the finest known survivors. Fairly light silver gray with a generally sharp appearance complemented by strong prooflike character in the fields. Well enough preserved to still show some of the original satiny and lustrous texture on the motifs. Soft pastel blue iridescence lingers close to the devices. Not only is this medal among the nicest survivors of this size, it is certainly the finest in private hands and must be the most attractive as well. Only scattered light scuffs and marks are visible though a couple of tiny reverse rim nicks do stand out a bit. According to Prucha, just 58 second-size Jackson medals were struck. Robert Julian gives the figure as 92, which is greater than either the large or small versions, but this seems unlikely since this size is the rarest today. This said, it is possible that the mintages given by Julian are correct, but that the numbers actually distributed were different than what was minted and that a large remainder of the medium-sized medals were simply melted. This is unlikely to ever be known, but the rarity of this medal today is what is most significant here. Carl Carlson found only three auction records for silver examples, once again without notes on different specimens. Two appeared in the Ford sales (including this), but no estimate of the number of survivors was given in those sales, just that these are "very rare." The present writer is aware of 13 specimens, five of which are in institutional collections.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from New Netherland's 34th Sale, October 1951, lot 486; J. Douglas Ferguson, August 1965 at the Montreal CNA Convention; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVI, October 2006, lot 128.