1817 James Monroe Indian Peace Medal. Copper, Bronzed. Second Size. First Reverse. Julian IP-9, Prucha-41. MS-65 BN (NGC). 62.6 mm. 1731.5 grains. Deep mahogany bronze with slightly lighter high points and nuances of pale blue and gold in the fields. Lovely satiny surfaces and superb eye appeal. Just one small abrasion beneath the clasped hands is noted for accuracy. Struck from the original dies. The obverse shows signs of some failure that the Mint worked to smooth out, but on this sharp specimen, traces of a fine crack through the M of MONROE into the field can be detected. The original pre-1846 reverse die used here exhibits a small patch of rust or spalling between the leftmost index fingertip and the cuff and heavier patches of the same on the rim just left of the cuff and above the axe head. Impressions from this original reverse die are quite a bit rarer than those from the post-1846 reverse. Over the last decade we have offered a second-size bronze Monroe on eight occasions, but only one other medal was from the first reverse. This is by far the nicer of the two and a lovely example overall. Even John Ford did not own an example from this die. Ex Stacks Bowers Galleries, August 2014, lot 3011.
