1829 Andrew Jackson Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Third Size. Julian IP-16, Prucha-43. Choice Fine. 50.8 mm. 831.4 grains. Pierced for suspension at 12 oclock, as issued. Largely deep gray surfaces with soft champagne toning in the fields and traces of deeper steel and pale blue-green iridescence against the rims. Numerous tiny marks scattered about both sides as is typical of well used medals of this type. A couple of gentle rim bumps are also par for the course, so to speak, while a pair of ancient scratches right of Jacksons face look to be intentional from some angles, almost as an arm and hand, hitting Jackson across the forehead. Such an addition would not be beyond the realm of possibility. Jacksons administration was not kind to Native Americans. It was during this time, in 1830, that Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which removed the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw from their lands, resettling them farther west. In 1832, the Cherokee Nation sued the United States to stop this Act, and though they won their case before the Supreme Court, Jackson ignored the ruling and forced the removal of these people. The famous Cherokee "Trail of Tears" was the culmination of this policy. As with the first-size Jackson above, well-worn Peace medals tell a different history than do sharper examples, as these were the medals long-worn by their recipients and carry deeper degrees of indigenous connection and history.As with the third-size medals of several administrations, a few silver Jackson medals were struck decades later and have masqueraded as originals for many years. This, with a single die chip in the reverse rim at 3 oclock, is certainly an original. This piece was formerly graded VF-25 by NGC. It is virtually identical in quality to the one in our 2022 summer sale that realized $9,000. One of 17 known to the writer, though one remains unconfirmed by photographic evidence. From Heritages sale of June 2006, lot 4815; Kagins sale of March 2021, lot 1082.
