1777 B. Franklin Américain Portrait Medallion. Fur Cap without Spectacles. By Jean-Baptiste Nini. Margolis-15, Baiardi-Sibille 94, Greenslet GM-15, Storelli-Unlisted, Villers-Unlisted. Terracotta.

119.6 mm; approximately 7.5 mm at the edge. 226.5 grams. Obverse with incuse signature and date NINI / F 1777 on truncation, left of coat of arms. Secondary date 1777 below, in relief. B FRANKLIN AMERICAIN around, separated by four rosettes and a single stop, with raised plain border. Made with a suspension hole from the top edge through to the back, as typical. Oblique edges finished in a prominent bevel around the reverse rim. Handsome and very uniform deep tan with a subtle orange tint. Smooth and crisply detailed throughout. A tiny void on the raised border near 2 o'clock looks to be as made, while a single tiny chip from the outer border ring is noted beneath the date. Otherwise, no other impairments catch the eye from the front. A larger chip is out of the lower reverse, and an edge chip affecting the obverse outer border near 2 o'clock has been reset. The fine outline of the once-lost piece is visible under close study but has little aesthetic impact. Another extremely rare variant, called "transitional" by Margolis as it is a petite module in high relief, but has the additional date in relief beneath the bust and the four rosette, single stop arrangement in the legend punctuation. These two features carried over to the more common low-relief medallions that were apparently produced in large numbers and are the most commonly seen (Margolis-17 and 18). In the heavier, high-relief module however, this arrangement is extremely rare. Margolis only tracked three examples of this medallion, one in the Blois Museum, one at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, and his own which he plated (though it is erroneously identified as the APS example). According to Margolis, that in the APS was gifted to Charles Willson Peale by the first minister of France to the United States. Peale painted the minister's portrait in September 1779 before he returned to France, so it is supposed that the gift was made at that time. Somewhat remarkably, the incuse signature and date were applied by a single prepared punch. Comparison of this medallion with four examples of Margolis-17 and 18 illustrates this clearly in the precisely exact arrangement of the characters and other details. The same is true of the relief date below, as evidenced in matching flaws in some of the bases of the 7s. The back of this medallion bears an old Paris customs export sticker.

From the Richard Margolis Collection. Purchased from Dr. Richard Lasser, New York City, November 2002.

Estimate: $3500