1877 Rutherford B. Hayes Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Oval. Julian IP-43, Prucha-54. Choice Extremely Fine, or perhaps a bit better. 75.1 mm (without the hanger) x 58.5 mm. 2948.4 grains. Integral suspension loop, as made. Medium to light steel gray with some slightly deeper patina in the recesses that accentuates the visual impact of the motifs. Slightly granular upon close inspection with some very faint old abrasions, fine scratches and tiny nicks visible under magnification that are not seen at all otherwise. A few scattered toning spots on the obverse are similar to those seen on a silver Garfield we sold in our 2011 New York Americana Sale. That piece is referenced here for more than one reason, as these two seem to share a common genesis. They are part of group of four similar medals that were revealed in the 1991 World Exonumia Sale #9. These were previously unknown medals, apparently struck at the same time for a collector and kept together for a long period of time. Dr. William C. Bridge was the named collector in the 1991 sale, and the Bridge name has been long erroneously attached to these oval restrikes, but they were consigned from a different source. It was noted that John J. Ford, Jr. had examined these medals and thought they were probably struck circa 1890-1895.<p>When the group appeared for sale in 1991, the four related medals included were for Rutherford B. Hayes (IP-43), James A. Garfield (IP-44), Chester A. Arthur (IP-45) and Benjamin Harrison (IP-47). All are restrikes of very rare medals. That offered here is unknown as a silver original, though the die used for the reverse is the 1877-dated one used to strike the original medals in bronze. This is believed unique. The Garfield oval is one of the greatest silver rarities of the series. The Ford specimen of the Chester Arthur original in silver was cataloged as one of just two known, while the oval Harrison is unreported in silver, except for the restrike mentioned here. As noted above, these medals share the characteristic of the distinctive integral loop at 12 oclock, and similar toning. In light of the extreme rarity of these issues in silver, these restrikes have proven desirable and sold for handsome sums over the years. Ex World Exonumias sale of September 1991, lot 1069; World Exonumia, November 2006, lot 579; Heritages sale of May 2010, lot 47278; Anthony Terranova; Early American History Auctions sale of October 2017, lot 303 via eBay; our sale of August 2019, lot 65.
