Undated (ca. 1878) Washington / Hess & Speidel Mule. White Metal. 28 mm. Musante JAB W-6, Musante GW-696, Baker-540. MS-64 (NGC).Bright pewter gray surfaces with appreciable semi-reflective tendencies in the fields. Both sides are sharply struck and well preserved, only a few trivial handling marks precluding an even higher grade. Almost certainly a restrike from this die pairing, as evidenced by the Mint State preservation, and perhaps one of just five impressions in white metal commissioned by W. Elliot Woodward ca. 1878. Bolen prepared the obverse die in 1864, while the reverse is attributed to Joseph H. Merriam, ca. 1863.From the Ralph A. Edson Collection.
