1850 Millard Fillmore Indian Peace Medal. Silver. First Size. Julian IP-30, Prucha-48. Very Fine. 75.9 mm. 2089.0 grains. Pierced at 12 oclock for suspension, as issued. Fairly uniform light gray on both sides with elements of darker patina in some of the more protected recesses of the design. The surfaces are not only uniform in tone, but they are also uniformly covered with fine marks, giving the piece an almost stippled appearance under the light. Many of these are very old and have naturally smoothed somewhat from long-term wear. Distortion in the suspension piercing and moderate thinning of the adjacent rim speaks to the long years this medal was worn as a personal adornment. A couple of short but very old scratches are noted on both sides, but there are no other serious bends, dents or damage commonly seen on such medals that served their intended purpose. There are 24 large-size Fillmore medals known to the writer, though one with a supposed Native American provenance is of a very suspicious appearance and its authenticity has not been directly verified. Five of these medals are held in institutional collections.Though the standard and long-used Peace and Friendship reverse dies had just been replaced with freshly cut dies for the 1849 Zachary Taylor medals, the Fillmore medals had the first major design change in the Peace medal series. Here, a Euro-American at left addresses a Native American at right, each in their own traditional attire. The man on the left points upward toward three connected rings, each encircling one of the words, LABOR, VIRTUE, HONOR. It is a much more complex and telling design that abandons the simplistic message of friendship, with one of condescending instruction on how to be a "citizen." As such, it is a design much better aligned with actual policies of the period, and thus much more honest. Ex Dan Brown, August 1963; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVIII, May 2007, lot 132. Lot tag included.
