1779 (ca. 1789) John Paul Jones Medal. Betts-568. Silver, 56 mm. AU-58 (PCGS). 1700.9 grains. A supremely important medal, thought to be one of fewer than a half dozen in private hands, representing the most noble collectible form of Americas first naval medal. The brilliant surfaces are exceptionally bright and reflective, with a bit of subtle navy blue toning across the obverse and some deeper gold at the rims. Scattered marks and hairlines are seen on both sides, not enough to deeply impact the excellent aesthetic appeal, and a single thin scratch is seen from the back of Jones head to I of JOANNI. The edges are lightly concave with no collar mark. The die state is consistent with other silver original Jones medals seen, with the spalling marks described by Adams and Bentley on p. 112.
Adams and Bentley list just four examples of this medal in silver in private hands. Weve sold two of them (the Adams "New England Collection" medal and the Ford Collection medal, the latter one twice) and have now seen two others, one listed by Adams and Bentley and one not. Institutional holdings include the Swan Historical Foundation (Washington Crossing State Park), British Museum, Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna, and Monticello. With a total census of fewer than 10 pieces known, a Jones medal in silver is Low Rarity 7 overall and High Rarity 7 in private hands. Before our November 2019 John W. Adams sale, it had been almost a century since this one was offered at public auction.
The origin of this medal is discussed in Adams and Bentleys <em>Comitia Americana </em>on pages 30-31. In the chapter on known sets of medals, this listing is subtitled "Junk Dealers Set."
"In 1983, a set of five Comitia Americana medals in silver turned up at a Brooklyn junk dealer, courtesy of the Chinese man who lived in the neighborhood and whose children reportedly played with the medals. The set, which has been housed in a box, made its way without the box to a bullion dealer thence to Rossa and Tannenbaum, well-known experts in tokens and Americana. The set was dispersed by them."
The five medals represented were this John Paul Jones, and examples of the Washington Before Boston, William Washington, John Eager Howard, and Benjamin Franklin (Betts-620)
Dupre based the obverse of this medal on another contemporary work of art: Jean-Antoine Houdons bust of Jones. The source of the reverse is perhaps a bit obscure, but relates directly to another artist whose work appears elsewhere in the Margolis Collection, sculptor and medalist Jean-Martin Renaud. Jean-Martin Renauds wax medallion of the battle inspired a print that is illustrated in Volume 16 of <em>The Papers of Thomas Jefferson</em>, which shows that Renauds work most certainly informed Dupres reverse design without serving as a direct source to copy. As the editors of the Jefferson Papers note, "Jones most recent biographer, Samuel Eliot Morison, regards the reverse of the Dupre medal as the most accurate visual depiction of the battle, but points out that Renauds rendition of the scene is nevertheless more accurate in one respect: it correctly shows the Serapis at anchor."
With these inspirations, and a copy of Jones journal delivered for further design assistance, Dupre produced a masterwork, a medal whose fabric inspired American naval medals for generations. Jones received his gold medal in May 1790, and it disappeared into history; a modern restrike, and the original dies, are interred in his vault below the chapel at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. A silver specimen is the most noble form extant, and this is one of the very rare few that any collector will ever get to own.
From the Richard Margolis Collection. Earlier from Rossa and Tanenbaum, about 1983.
