1776 (Circa 1863) Washington Before Boston Medal. U.S. Mint Gunmetal Dies. Bronze. 67.9 millimeters. Julian MI-1, Musante GW-09-US1, Baker-49. MS-63 BN (NGC).Struck from the so-called "gunmetal" transfer copy dies, produced at the U.S. Mint circa 1863 directly from a Paris Mint restrike (Musante GW-09-P3). Even mahogany-bronze surfaces with slight hints of deep blue and gold when viewed at certain angles. The patina is thin on some letters of EXERCITVVM and nearby from a light abrasion, and some minor marks are evident in the wide open field on the reverse. Even so, this is a handsome example of this rare American-made variant, produced after the U.S. Mint used an original Paris striking as a hub to produce transfer dies. This transfer process was also used to produce new dies for the John Paul Jones, William Washington and John Eager Howard medals. For each of these, the only other versions of the medal then available had to be imported from France, where the Paris Mint was still producing pieces using original dies. Only small numbers of the "gunmetal die" variants were made, perhaps because the somewhat matte texture of their surfaces were not as appealing as the reflective Paris Mint strikings of the day, or because these transfer dies were slightly less detailed and were prone to deterioration and therefore had a relatively short useful life. This example shows some minor die crumbling, especially between the tops of the lettering and the rim of the reverse, indicating the dies had been in use some time before this example was struck. While all earlier varieties of the Washington Before Boston medal were produced in Paris, this type was the first American-produced variant, struck beginning early in the Civil War and subsequently replaced by impressions from a new die engraved by Charles E. Barber in 1885. The mintage figures in Julians <em>Medals of the United States Mint</em> indicate that a total of 145 of these pieces were struck in bronze between 1863 and 1885.
