1829 Andrew Jackson Indian Peace Medal. Silver. First Size. Julian IP-14, Prucha-43. About Uncirculated.75.5 mm. 2359.2 grains. Pierced at 12 oclock, as issued, with the original Mint-made suspension ring still present. Faint blue-gray toning over much of the surface with thin outlines of deeper color outlining the motifs, in the recesses, and through the letters of the legend. A fairly high grade survivor in terms of wear, as the details remain crisply defined throughout. The rims are high and sharp, still retaining their original texture and fine concentric lines, as made, a feature usually long gone. The fields retain much of their prooflike character, and yet the wear that is evident and the pattern of marks on the surfaces illustrate that this was an awarded medal, as intended. Among the few survivors, well detailed examples are not terribly unusual. This might be due to the fact that the Jackson Administration had been in place only a short time before the Indian Removal Act of 1830 sparked the widespread relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Deep South toward Oklahoma. These removals were naturally unpopular amongst the groups of people who might have received medals like this, even if it took some time before it was understood what would eventually transpire, known today as the Trail of Tears. The reverse of this medal, through a series of quite purposeful scratches, might speak directly to the sentiments of betrayal tens of thousands of Native Americans must have felt as the removals progressed. Close examination reveals that the cuff on the leftmost American arm bears a large X scratch. A secondary moderately deep scratch crosses the wrist, just behind the hand. The uncuffed or native hand is similarly treated, with lighter but longer wrist cuts but no obvious X. Harder to apply and thus harder to see are smaller X cuts at the intersection of the calumet and tomahawk, on the bowl of the calumet and on the head of the tomahawk. Curiously, there are no obvious marks on the portrait of Jackson, perhaps setting the leader or chief aside as deserving respect that unconsummated supposed acts of friendship or treaty did not.<p>A really interesting medal only recently brought to light by the family that has cared for it for decades, and the newest addition to the writers census of known specimens. There are now 20 known original first size Jackson medals in silver, fully half of which are held in institutional collections.From the Family of Rear Admiral George Porter Hunter, USN, Retired.
