Circa 1800 Westwood medal. First reverse. Musante GW-82, Baker-81. Copper, Bronzed. MS-64+ (PCGS).40.2 mm. 578.7 grains. A really exceptional example of this early medal with very choice prooflike fields that are virtually pristine as far as handling marks. The surfaces are sharp and satiny. A pair of tiny rim marks are seen but magnification is necessary to find them. Another couple of rim anomalies are natural to the flan and <em>as made</em>. This is easily one of the finest examples of this medal we have seen. The surfaces are deep chocolate brown with traces of red around the letters of the legend where the bronzed surface was thinned and separated during the strike.<p>Regarding this type, Baker wrote that it “bears a portrait quite different from any other in the series, and unlike any known original. Both of these medals, [referring here to the Westwood and Hero of Freedom] issued shortly after the decease of Washington, are of English origin, and show skill of execution.”<p>That Baker was not aware of the source for this portrait is notable, for he was a scholar of high order where engraved portraits of Washington were concerned and had in his own collection as many engravings of Washington as medals. He also published a well researched and thorough reference on them in 1880, titled <em>Engraved Portraits of Washington.</em><p>What Baker does not address is why he ordered the two Westwood variants as he did. We assume it was simply not given consideration. Unfortunately, he ordered them in reverse to their appropriate chronology, which Neil Musante has corrected. The same obverse die was used on both varieties and this is indeed the earlier state, with a less well-developed break at the top of the head, beneath the H. The reverse seen here is the first one (which will undoubtedly create confusion with past listings), and is easily identified by the period under 68. It also is often seen with a break in the lower right of the bunch of arrows which, being easily seen without magnification, might well be the cause of the die’s retirement.Ex William Spohn Baker Collection, to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by bequest, November 15, 1897.
