Circa 1841 Washington Temperance Benevolent Society or Tyrant Alcohol medalet. Musante GW-163, Baker-332A. Copper. MS-65 BN (PCGS).21.3 mm. 47.6 grains. Glossy reddish brown surfaces with traces of vivid mint red remaining around the legends and in other protected recesses. Soft olive and rose mottling. Sharply struck with the Washington portrait nicely defined and just a trace of weakness in the central star opposing it on the reverse. The reeding is sharp to the touch. The reverse die state is later, with heavy spalling evident. No suspension piercing. Very rare in copper. The three readily apparent in our archives have all been uniformly pierced for suspension just like the typical silver ones. While our archives do not include an unpierced example in copper, we are aware of one in a private collection in an unspalled early state. The Musante plate piece is an additional unpierced example, though we can’t determine the die state from the image.Ex William Spohn Baker Collection, to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by bequest, November 15, 1897.
