1837 Martin Van Buren Indian Peace Medal. Aluminum. First Size. Julian IP-17, Prucha-44. Second Reverse. Mint State. 75.7 mm. 1036.3 grains. Brilliant and uniform surfaces with strong, satiny luster throughout except for a couple of areas exhibiting minor handling abrasions. Struck in aluminum, presumably sometime around the mid-1890s when aluminum came into common use for small tokens such as pieces issued at the Worlds Columbian Exposition. Struck at the U.S. Mint, from the original obverse die used for the issued silver medals in the 1830s, and the second reverse die prepared in 1846. This has been confirmed by careful direct study that revealed remnants of matching spalling and recutting, though both dies have been refurbished with a sandblast finish.We have offered this likely unique medal twice before, once in our (Stacks) January 2000 Americana sale:757, and later in our (Bowers and Merenas) November 2001 sale of the Tree Many Feathers Collection:5160. In both offerings, we relayed that Virgil M. Brand bought a group of Mint medals struck in aluminum from Stephen Nagy, on January 16, 1919. Very few of these medals have ever appeared for sale, though we had seven of the Peace medals in the aforementioned January 2000 sale. It would seem the Nagy-Brand group is likely a unique set in this composition, as we have not seen any since our last offering of this one more than two decades ago. Most likely this was from a set made-to-order for Nagy. From our (Stacks) Americana Sale of January 2000, lot 757; Tree Many Feathers; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of Tree Many Feathers Collection, November 2001, lot 5160; probably previously from Stephen Nagy to Virgil M. Brand, January 16, 1919. Bowers and Merena lot tag included.
