Circa 1842-1845 Cercle Britannique or Heroes of Liberty medal. Edge marked with Ship’s Prow and BRONZE. Musante GW-149, Baker-196S. Bronze. SP-66 (PCGS).51.5 mm. 1091.7 grains. Another lovely specimen of this beautiful medallic work. Rich chocolate brown with soft blue and rose iridescence in the glittering fields. Satiny on the obverse relief as seen on the medal above, while the reverse field of this piece is boldly reflective suggesting that the die was polished a bit before it was struck. This might point to a small break in production between the earlier strikes without edge marks and those with the Paris Mint privy marks. Although, as the medal first appeared for sale in the Paris Mint catalog in 1838, and the privy mark seen here indicates a production date as little as four years later, the break was necessarily brief.<p>Though we are aware of no published discussion proving that the unmarked pieces are earlier, these two medals clarify this. The present piece has a pair of tiny reverse rim cuds at 9:00 and 10:00 not seen on the earlier piece offered above. A small apparent collar break is also seen. Baker number in red on the edge.<p>As noted above, one of these two medals was Charles Bushnell’s, which Baker bought as lot 1367 in the Chapman brothers’ June 1882 sale.Ex William Spohn Baker Collection, to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by bequest, November 15, 1897.
