1837 Martin Van Buren Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Small Size. 51 mm. 795.0 grains. Julian IP-19, Prucha-44. Extremely Fine.Holed for suspension as typical, but no loop. A handsome example of this scarce issue, with fairly uniform deep gray patina that offers originality and good eye appeal. Just the highest points of the design are a little lighter in tone, creating a gentle yet pleasant contrast. The sharpness is excellent, with only light wear on the highest points of the high relief portrait on the obverse and high points of the reverse, like the knuckles and cuff buttons. The usual array of marks are seen, expected of an awarded Indian Peace medal, including a row of rim nicks in the lower left obverse and a few individual ones elsewhere, scattered dull nicks on the cheek and obverse field, and some light pin scratches in the lower reverse field. The Dreyfuss piece was much more worn than this one; it later reappeared in our September 2005 Pubic Auction Sale. Ford owned three specimens of this size, one of which was sharper while the others were more worn. In the last decade, we have had the pleasure of selling this medal two times, once in 2009 and again in 2014. We are aware of no other offerings of a small size Van Buren in this time frame. Though 112 are believed to have been struck and it is thought that perhaps 25-30 might exist today, they are not commonly seen in the marketplace. This one brought $11,750 in 2014.From the collection of Jochen Zeitz. Earlier from our sale of the Minot Collection, May 2008, lot 540; our Americana sale of September 2009, lot 6127; our sale of March 2014, lot 9.
