Undated (ca. 1867) Jefferson / Equal and Exact Justice medal by J.A. Bolen. Musante JAB-26. Silver. MS-63 (PCGS).

25.3 mm. 208.0 grains. Struck on an extra thick flan with high wire rims in places, giving an impressive appearance and heft. Boldly struck with nice prooflike reflectivity in the fields. Soft rose and pale blue-green toning on both sides adds to the visual appeal, while close study will reveal a few light hairlines and some minor nicks in the fragile, thin wire rim. An earlier die state than the Bolen reference specimen offered above, and proof that Bolen emitted both thick and thin flan medals from his own shop. As discussed above, Bolen's annotated notebook gives the mintage in silver as three, while the Johnson list reported two in 1882. These two are clearly Bolen originals and might well be the only ones provable as being from his shop.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from our (Bowers and Ruddy) sale of the New York Public Library Collection, October 1982, lot 2737.