1845 James K. Polk Indian Peace Medal. Silver. First Size. Julian IP-24, Prucha-46. About Uncirculated. 75.6 mm. 2509.3 grains. Pierced for suspension as issued. A superb example of this very rare medal, with medium gray surfaces generously accented by pale blue and gold toning across both sides. The fields retain their prooflike reflectivity while the motifs are quite sharp, with just a trace of light rub on the highest points of relief. There are some mostly minor marks that speak to a likely short period of indigenous wear. The more serious among them are a few light rim bumps and two more serious areas of impact on the reverse, one between the stems of the tomahawk and pipe at the upper right, and another over the FRI of FRIENDSHIP in the lower field. Neither is very distracting, and their positions on the reverse leave the broad open fields of the obverse clean for a striking first impression. Among the eight surviving examples of this medal known to the writer, the Zabriskie-Boyd-Ford specimen is clearly the finest, but it now resides in the collection at Colonial Williamsburg. The ANS and Smithsonian hold two more of the genuine medals, leaving just four in private hands. Among these, this appears to be the finest. One other seems equally sharp, that sold by Heritage in August 2019, though while it was graded MS-61 by NGC, all images of it are suggestive of fairly polished surfaces not seen on this lovely specimen, and with a suggested provenance to the family of Millard Fillmore, it was also not likely awarded.
The somewhat dished obverse of the Polk medal design makes the Polk portrait one of the highest reliefs in the entire Peace medal series. Naturally, this would be harder to strike up fully and this particular high-grade medal shows just how challenging this was for the mint. Close examination of many details here reveal multiple strikes, perhaps as many as six, to get the portrait expressed fully. Each of these impressions was properly centered, so the evidence of the multiple impressions is multiple fine radial outlines to nearly all the letters of the legend and numerals of the date. As a result of their high relief, Polk medals of all sizes have a somewhat distinctive medallic appearance.\n\nAll genuine Polk medals are very rare. As noted, just eight are known of this size, with four in private hands. There are nine or 10 known survivors of the second size, with five in institutional collections. The third-size medals have the distinction of the smallest net mintage of the American series, with just six originally issued. Four of these survive. After the Washington oval, the second-size Jefferson and perhaps the first-size Monroe, this is probably the fourth most significant medal in the Slovick Family Collection. This medal was missing from the Garrett, Dreyfuss, Schenkel, LaRiviere, Steinberg and Wharton collections. From the Ronald A. Slovick Family Collection. Earlier ex Jim Hart & Loretta Carbonara (Acquisition Inc.), at the Mitchell Museum Indian Show in Skokie, Illinois, April 1999.
