1885 Grover Cleveland Indian Peace Medal. Copper, Bronzed. Julian IP-46, Prucha-57. MS-65 BN (NGC).
75 mm x 59 mm, oval. Light chocolate-brown surfaces with fine geometric mottling in the patina that is often seen on bronze medals of the 19th century. Soft blue-green toning is seen in the strongly prooflike fields at a certain angle to the light. A nice visual contrast is noted between the fields and motifs. A few minor marks account for the grade, but the eye appeal is quite nice. Prucha relates that in April 1887 there was an official order placed for 10 silver medals for distribution. However, acquiring one is perhaps impossible as we are aware of no confirmed originals. Carl Carlson found no auction appearances in silver, the Ford Collection similarly revealed not a single example in silver, and in that catalog, Michael Hodder noted that he was aware of none. Even the ANS specimen is a matte-finish restrike. This brings us to the bronzes. Carlson's auction records included just two appearances for a bronze strike, while the Ford Collection contained a lone example. There are later impressions from the dies with matte finishes in bronze, but earlier impressions are very rare and have generally commanded healthy sums at auction. We have only a single medal of similar quality in our archives, graded MS-66 BN. We have sold it twice, and its record price realization was just shy of $10,000, in 2013. This piece is the most prooflike of those we have handled, as we note that such texture was not mentioned at all in our past descriptions of the higher-graded one.

Estimate: $5000