Magnificent old toning highlights of gold and variegated colors enhance otherwise deep gray surfaces, left to darken through benign neglect into a beautiful triumph of originality. In the world of rare books this medal would be deemed "unsophisticated," which is to say never touched or improved upon, with an implication of long non-collector possession. This medal deserves the term, for our (Stacks) sale of January 2009 marked its first appearance at public auction. Some scattered contact marks are present on both sides, tiny rim bruise just left of 6 oclock on the reverse, an additional rim nick on the same side near 4 oclock. Typical light die crack through the reverse exergue, seen on all originals. Bold collaring mark or "witness line" just left of 12 oclock. A delightfully imperfect medal, neither a Gem nor a polished museum piece, just a medal that has miraculously survived despite some handling.Any silver War of 1812 naval medal is a triumph of survival. In most cases, including this Decatur medal, just 50 examples were struck in silver, all to be presented to officers involved in the named action. The survival rate appears to be just 10 to 20% in most cases, with many of the survivors in places like the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Winterthur, or various local historical societies who may or may not know how precious their prize is. Carlson cited just two records of silver Decaturs in 1986, one of which was impounded at Annapolis. Another is impounded in the ANS Collection. There was a specimen in our (Bowers and Merenas) 1986 sale of the Dreyfuss Collection, described therein as, "one of a handful known to survive today." That specimen reappeared later in the Middendorf sale. Ford did not own a silver example; the one cited by Julian as owned by Ford was in fact a copper striking. An exact population of extant examples is difficulty to pin down, but it is likely in the range of only five or so, similar to original silver impressions of most War of 1812 naval medals. We can place only two of these in private cabinets. The present example boasts a superb natural appearance that, despite light handling, recommends it highly into a connoisseurs cabinet.,,,From our (Stacks) Americana Sale of January 2009, lot 5565. Lot tag and paper envelope with attribution notes included.