1857 James Buchanan Indian Peace Medal. Bronze. First Size. Julian IP-36, Prucha-Unlisted. "Second Reverse." MS-63 BN (NGC).
76 mm. Light mahogany-brown with nuances of light steel toning on the obverse and a patch of slightly deeper patina at the upper left reverse. Gently prooflike through the fields in soft contrast to the satiny devices. A very choice example of this muling, combining the usual Buchanan obverse with the reverse used on the Fillmore and Pierce medals. In fact, the quality is so nice that it is hard to explain the grade assigned. This muling seems to have been struck after the medals in bronze with the intended reverse, as some of these exhibit a late state of the obverse die. Though a later state is known, this has patches of spalling extending into the field through the B of BUCHANAN and the A of STATES, as well as a crack from the rim into the E of STATES. A really nice example of this scarce medal.

Estimate: $600