1857 James Buchanan Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Large Size. 75.3 mm. 2430.8 grains. Julian IP-34, Prucha-50. Very Fine.Neatly holed for suspension, as issued, but without the loop. Light gray silver dominates the surfaces, the remains of an ancient cleaning, while large, somewhat irregular areas of darker patina have returned to both sides. The surfaces also show areas of small pitting, likely from being lost for a period of time, which would be consistent with the toning pattern and hairlines in the fields. Still, as awarded Indian Peace medals go, this is a nice one. There are typical small marks, scratches, and the like, but no serious impairments as are often seen on these large medals. Buchanan peace medals are quite desirable. Just 69 examples were struck in silver in this size, along with 74 in the smaller format. They are also widely appreciated for the scene of baseball being played on the reverse. The specimen in Ford XVI was heavily tooled, and brought $17,250; the so-called duplicate was just a little better than this one and brought $34,500 in Ford XVIII. Schenkels was quite similar to this, but had a heavy obverse scratch. Mike Hodder noted records of just six specimens of this large size in silver known to him. In more recent times, our offering of the Charles A. Wharton Collection included a lovely Very Fine that commanded just over $28,000 in our August 2013 sale, while a bit more rugged Fine example sold in our ANA sale a year previous for nearly $19,000. This one brought $21,150 in March 2014, while another, with a sizable scratch in the field, sold for $19,975 in our March 2016, sale. As far as Peace medals go, the prices realized for the large size Buchanans have been respectably consistent over a period of years, a testament to the rarity that keeps demand just a little ahead of supply.From the collection of Jochen Zeitz. Earlier from our sale of March 2014, lot 13.