Undated (ca. 1861) Pioneer Baseball Club Medal. By John Adams Bolen. Musante JAB-1. White Metal, Silvered. MS-65 (PCGS).31.5 mm. Arguably the most handsome and highest graded example we have seen of this medal in this composition. Lovely russet, violet and blue-green toning accents are splashed with silver on the obverse, while the reverse is a bit more intensely colorful with soft green at the center, and rings of rose, violet and deeper blue around. Generously reflective through the fields, though they exhibit some of the natural roughness common to these medals. One tiny rim nick is noted near 3 oclock. Well struck and beautifully preserved. As noted in the description of the copper example above, it was reported that club member, Ham Downing "carried his medal with him at all times" and was supposedly buried with it, evidence that these were artifacts proudly held by members of the club. It follows that they were likely often carried, shown off, and most significantly for this offering, handled, occasionally lost or buried! Neither in copper nor in white metal do these medals appear with enough frequency to suggest that anything close to the original reported mintages have survived. Impressions in white metal were reported to number 125 pieces and though they appear more often than copper ones, they are rarely seen in quality even remotely close to that offered here.From the Claremont Collection. Earlier from our sale of the Michael Druck Collection, March 2017 Baltimore Auction, lot 77.
