Circa 1761 George III and Queen Charlotte medal. Silver. Adams 11.2 (Obverse 1, Reverse B), Betts-440, Jamieson Fig. 10. Fine. 37.7 mm. 246.9 grains. Pierced for suspension. Unsigned dies. Obv: facing busts of the king and queen, drapery above. Rev: the royal arms and supporters. Light silver gray with some deeper patina in the recesses. A slight bend in the relatively thin flan is noted, as are a few scattered nicks and marks consistent with a medal worn in Native American context as is believed to have been the case with some of these marriage medals. The suspension hole is expanded from use, with the upper edge quite thin, but unbroken.Of the 13 medals accounted for in John Adams’ Census, nine are included in institutional collections leaving precious few for collectors. There are more specimens about, to be sure. One in Adams’ own collection was acquired after he published, and this one also seems to have been unknown to him in 1999. This said, they are indeed rare and this piece has a couple of useful distinctions. First, it was clearly worn. The two Adams Collection specimens were much better preserved, and one was suspiciously so for a medal believed distributed to Native Americans. The Ford specimen was unpierced. This example is far less questionable as an issued medal. It is also from Adams’ Reverse B, by far the rarer of the two. Adams noted in 1999 that just one of the 13 medals in his Census was from this reverse die, a medal in the Glenbow Museum. There is one other from the W.W.C. Wilson sale that is now in the ANS. Inexplicably, while it was plated in the Wilson sale with an apparently plugged hole, at the ANS it has an added suspension loop. This is a third example from this reverse. Ex Stack’s Bowers Galleries, January 2013, lot 10108.
