1857 James Buchanan Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Second Size. Julian IP-35, Prucha-50. Very Fine.

62.6 mm. 1528.5 grains. Pierced for suspension as typical, but now lacking the loop that was sold with it in the October 2006 Ford sale. Gently mottled gray surfaces are more deeply toned in the recesses where some minor natural deposits remain on the surface. Lighter gray on the reliefs allows for nice visual appeal. The surfaces are evenly worn and thoroughly nicked, but there are no serious marks to distract the eye. A few faint scratches can be seen at the central reverse, but only upon close inspection. This is an immensely pleasing example for the grade, much more so than the heavily nicked Ness Collection specimen offered last November. Following the plan for the Fillmore and Pierce medals, only two sizes were issued for the Buchanan administration. There were reportedly 69 large-size medals struck and 74 of this size. According to Prucha, there was no indication that any were returned and melted. This suggests that the rarities of the two sizes today should be about equal, and they are in terms of numbers of pieces known. They do diverge a bit in terms of auction appearances, however. Carl Carlson noted three auction records for large-size medals and seven records for this size. However, like his information provided for many other issues, there was no report as to how many different medals were represented in these auction records. We have offered a second-size Buchanan just six times in the last 15 or so years, while the number of appearances for a first-size medal is nearly two times that. The present writer has identified 13 different specimens, with five of them in institutional collections.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from James E. Cope (Orange, Texas), August 1978; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVI, October 2006, lot 155.