1814 George III Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Small Size. Adams-14.2. Specimen-61 (PCGS).
553.2 grains. Original suspension hanger. Handsome light silver-gray surfaces with soft overtones of pale blue and gold at a certain angle to the light. Slightly deeper toning close to the rims, but the overall appearance is uniform light gray, accented by soft original luster. Beautifully struck, with sharp expression of all details including the bold signature of Wyon at George's truncation. At least one seen appears to be missing this detail, but whether it was struck before the signature was added or if it was carefully tooled away is unknown. That medal appeared in our (Stack's) October 2006 Ford XVI Sale, at lot 77. This is the rarest size of the 1814-dated medals, and one of just nine medals listed in John Adams' census. It is certified by PCGS as the Lucien LaRiviere specimen, which seems to correspond to Adams' example number 6, "Private Collection, Rhode Island. Near Mint, possibly with a new reverse," further noted as "Not seen." The reverse is the same as that on others we have handled, however. A perfectly lovely medal, as one would expect from this particular provenance, as Mr. LaRiviere was known and is remembered foremost for his excellent taste in every series he collected.
From Spink's sale #49, December 1985, lot 244; Lucien LaRiviere; our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Lucien LaRiviere Collection, Part II, March 2001, lot 2016.