1853 Franklin Pierce Indian Peace Medal. Silver. First Size. Julian IP-32, Prucha-49. Choice Very Fine. 76.1 mm. 2392.1 grains. Pierced for suspension as typical with a suspension loop. This is in the style of the original loop, but we presume it is not original due to the lack of obvious wear. The medal is fairly consistent medium gray silver with some darker patina through the legends and outlining the devices. Some soft golden overtones are noted in the fields. A clearly issued and worn medal, with the usual surface characteristics. Small nicks and marks around the rims and in the interior, but no serious damage that would be considered distracting. Somewhat hairlined from old, decidedly non-numismatic care, another typically seen characteristic of an awarded medal.All of the medals for the Pierce administration were completed and delivered before the end of 1853. There were 120 large-size medals delivered and most of them seem to have been distributed as just 23 were returned to the Mint at the close of the Pierce administration for melting. The net issue in this size was therefore 97 medals. Carl Carlson recorded 10 auction records for a large-size Pierce, noting "8 or fewer specimens." To this, the Ford Collection would add five new specimens. The present writer has located as many as 16 specimens, with two reported in an institutional collection, but not seen. One of the confirmed examples is at the ANS. Two other special pieces are also known. One is a uniface obverse impression that turned up in New Hampshire and was sold in our August 2012 sale. The Crane Collection in Denver includes one purported to be silver, that is struck from a different obverse die without a period after the legend and with a differently styled date. Ex Sotheby’s New York, November 1991, lot 410; Lucien LaRiviere Collection, Stack’s, January 1996, lot 76.