1790 Manly Medal. First Obverse. Bronze. 49 mm. Musante GW-10, Baker-61B. Specimen-45 (PCGS). Here is a handsome, fully original example of this historically significant Washington type. Both sides exhibit dominant autumn-brown patina, the peripheries splashed with mottled copper-rose highlights. There is light wear and scattered handling marks, although plenty of bold detail remains to the high relief portrait of Washington on the obverse. The peripheral design elements on that side are sharp, while the reverse has isolated softness at the upper right and along the lower border. A few tiny planchet pits are scattered about, the most significant of which is in the left obverse field before Washingtons chin. There are a couple of faint scratches in the right field area on the same side. Several light rim disturbances are noted, none of which are out of context for a Manley medal at this grade level.This eagerly sought type is the first Washington portrait medal produced in the United States and one of the very few that Washington himself would have seen. The vast majority of the medallic art bearing a likeness of the first president has been produced since his death in 1799, which sets these earliest pieces apart. It is these contemporaries of Washington who might have expected Washington to see their works, or even made sure of it as in the case of Samuel Brooks who engraved the Manly dies. In this way they might have captured for themselves the personal attention of the man, the first American celebrity, even if for a brief time. In Brooks case, it seems to have gone a step further as, in 1793, he applied directly to Washington hoping to gain appointment as an engraver in the newly established United States Mint.As a technical note regarding the composition, the PCGS holder follows the Rulau-Fuld and Musante references in attributing this piece as bronze. The appearance, however, is similar to that of the specimen offered as lot 20008 in our November 2019 sale of the William Spohn Baker Collection, on which an XRF test (X-Ray Fluorescence) was performed and identified it to be 92% copper, and 8% zinc. That composition is brass, which is defined quite specifically as an alloy of copper and zinc. In numismatics, there is quite a bit of guesswork in deciding compositions between copper, bronze and brass, the latter usually being the easiest to spot due to its usually lighter olive tone. The definition of bronze is a cuprous alloy usually containing tin, and possibly other elements, even zinc, in theoretically any ratio. Copper would be the pure element, with the natural possibility of trace elements. However they are classified, examples of this type attributed as Baker-61B, as here, were almost certainly produced using similar planchet stock. Survivors are eagerly sought at all levels of preservation, especially when as attractive as the example offered here. From the Q. David Bowers Collection.
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