1809 James Madison Indian Peace Medal. Silver. First Size. Julian IP-5, Prucha-40. About Extremely Fine. 75.7 mm. 2605.3 grains. Pierced at 12 oclock for suspension, as issued. Beautiful medium gray silver with soft golden overtones and strong accents of pale blue iridescence at the upper right obverse. Tiny, virtually inconsequential marks pepper both sides while a series of slightly heavier ones are loosely concentrated at the reverse center. Few are much larger than a millimeter or so, and none could be considered distracting on a medal like this, one that was clearly issued. Though there is a bit of wear in the suspension hole in addition to the noted surface marks, the actual surface wear is minimal. The details remain quite sharp, and the overall eye appeal is excellent. In fact, this is the most pleasing first-size Madison medal we have handled in years. The Ness Collection medal sold in 2020, the most recent of our past offerings, was perhaps a trifle sharper but had a series of dents in the left obverse field. The present writer is aware of 20 specimens of the first-size Madison medal, and six of these are in institutional collections. This is #2 in Skyler Liechtys article, "The First Size James Madison Indian Peace Medal: A Modern Census" published in the June 2018 <em>MCA Advisory</em>. With a nearly three-year span since our last offering, it is clear that the few existing medals do not trade frequently. The finest among them is probably the best of Fords four, a medal so nice as to raise a question as to its ever having been awarded into Native hands. In terms of both quality and aesthetics, this medal would be very difficult to improve upon. From the F.C.C. Boyd Estate; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVI, October 2006, lot 112. Lot tag included.
