Undated (post-1862) United States Arsenal Medal Muling. With Sun / Without Sun. Dies by John Adams Bolen. Musante JAB M/E-1. Silver. MS-65 (NGC).28 mm. Medium to deep silver gray with subtle mottled overtones of blue, green, rose and gold on both sides. A pleasantly original appearance with prooflike character in the fields and no serious marks aside from a tiny spot left of the tower on the Without Sun side. Small toning patterns on the With Sun side reveal this to be the Musante plate medal on page 178. This is the only silver impression from these dies that we can ever recall handling. Musante does not note any appearances prior to Frossards 104th sale, in January 1891, which included only copper, brass and tin examples. He records only a single auction appearance for a silver impression (probably the present example) as lot 109 in the PCAC sale of December 1995, in which it is noted: "The mintage figure is unknown, but no more than a few were probably struck. We can find no modern auction record for a silver example." All are very rare, and in silver this could well be unique.From the Claremont Collection. Earlier from June 2021 Costa Mesa Auction, lot 1038. The plate specimen for the attribution in the 2002 Musante reference on Bolen medals, p. 178.
