Undated (ca. 1864) Washington's Letter to Hamilton Medal. By John Adams Bolen. Musante GW-675, Baker-257B, Musante JAB-11. White Metal. MS-62 (PCGS).
58.5 mm. 71.5 grams. Some traces of reflectivity in the fields, but hairlined and somewhat handled. A few tiny nicks noted on the portrait, as well as around the obverse rim. Nicely struck, as typical of this medal, and quite pleasing overall. There is considerable lack of clarity as to the numbers of Letter to Hamilton medals struck. It was published in the 1868 American Journal of Numismatics that the number struck was unknown. Bolen's own annotated notebook also had no mention of mintage, while it has data commonly recorded for other issues. When Edwin Johnson published his list of Bolen's works in 1882, he gave the mintage as five in silver, 10 in copper, and 14 in white metal, adding that these were all by Dr. Edwards, to whom the dies were sold in 1865. We are aware of six distinct specimens in silver and 12 in copper, so we know that the reported figures of five and 10 are not correct for the issue overall, and we can assume the same is true for 14 in white metal. Among the six in silver, we have weight and die state data for five of them, which illustrates two distinct states and two weight standards that correspond to them. This suggests two distinct striking operations, so we assume that Bolen was responsible for a few and that Edwards struck a few more. Data suggests that the same is true of the copper pieces, and it is less conclusive for white metal. However, all silver examples are in Die States 1 and 3 (of four observed). Copper impressions are in states 3 and 4, and white metal ones seem to be in states 1 and 2, with a couple perhaps intermediate between 2 and 3. We are aware of just 11 in this composition.
From the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation. Earlier from our sale of the Charles A. Wharton Collection, March 2014 Baltimore Auction, lot 2183.