(1852) California / Pennsylvania National Guards Medal to Captain Robert Lyle. Silver-Washed Copper. 52 mm, 4 mm thick at the rims. 38.7 grams. Choice Extremely Fine, Light Rim Nicks.<strong>Obv:</strong> The seal of California, the word EUREKA above, the California bear and California herself looking over the Golden Gate while a miner searches for gold in the background. <strong>Rev:</strong> The seal of Pennsylvania with the inscription PRESENTED BY ROBT. POLLOCK, WM H. MCMINN, ROBT. B. QUAYLE / TO INFANTRY CORPS / NATIONAL GUARDS / CAPT. LYLE. around the border and below the seal. The die execution is good, if not masterful; a P or AP monogram may be seen hidden near the rim on the obverse below 9 oclock. Deep, rich, steely-charcoal patina with slight marbling of antique copper on both sides. There is little actual wear, all design elements sharp, the high rims with minor nicks, and the surfaces with a few wispy handling marks.<p>This is an enigmatic medal, present in Bushnell in 1882 (there described as "cast in lead" and "very rare"). When the present example was sold in our (Stacks) Ford VII sale, it was unsung and essentially unidentified. A mention of this medal appears in the August 17, 1852 issue of the <em>Sacramento Daily Union</em>, where Pollock, McMinn and Quayle are noted as "members of the company now in California" who presented a "massive gold medal" to the National Guards in New York at the American Hotel. The three donors and the recipient, Capt. Peter Lyle, served together in the 19th Pennsylvania Volunteers, a National Guard regiment, in the Mexican-American War. The donors moved to California immediately after the war and started a new regiment of Pennsylvania emigres; Lyle stayed in Pennsylvania, was made colonel, and led troops at Gettysburg and elsewhere during the Civil War.<p>This stands among the earliest of all California medals and among the most elusive; we have noted only three appearances at public auction: Bushnell; Ford (the present example); and the example offered as lot 6088 in our New York Americana Sale of January 2012. It belongs in a fine collection of California medals or medals related to the Mexican-American War.From our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part VII, January 2005, lot 261.
