1853 Franklin Pierce Indian Peace Medal. Silver. Second Size. Julian IP-33, Prucha-49. Very Fine. 63.3 mm. 1615.3 grains. Pierced for suspension as typical. Deep gray surfaces with even darker gray mottling that becomes solid close to the rims and throughout the protected recesses. Quite sharp and with the first appearance of superb preservation, though close inspection reveals areas with light but somewhat extensive scratching. Other small marks are scattered about and there is a slight roughness to the surfaces. Some of this is from flaws associated with the cast flan, but elsewhere there are traces of light porosity consistent with a piece subjected to the environment for a while.The red and white silk ribbon associated with this piece is almost certainly not original, though it is quite aged and perhaps a turn-of-the century addition. As pointed out in our Ford sale, the ribbon is imprinted "1853 TREATY WITH CHIPPEWA INDIANS," yet there was no such treaty of that year. Taking into consideration the condition of the medal, we suspect it may have been found local to where an 1854 Treaty with the Chippewa was signed, and that someone with a memory of the event, and perhaps even personal knowledge that medals of this type were distributed, had the ribbon made. The date does correspond to that on the medal and years after the fact, it would be an easy error to make. The Treaty was made September 30, 1854, at La Pointe, Wisconsin, between two agents for the United States and 10 bands of Chippewa of Lake Superior and the Mississippi Valley. Considering the obvious age of the ribbon, it is likely that it does indeed point to the source of this medal.Carl Carlson recorded just two auction appearances of a medium size Pierce medal as of 1986, noting specifically the one in NASCAs 1981 Kessler-Spangenberger sale. That piece is now in the collection at the National Portrait Gallery. There were only two examples in the Ford Collection (compared with five large ones), and Michael Hodder was aware of six specimens at the time he wrote those sales in 2006 and 2007. The present writer has identified 20 specimens, but nine of these are in institutional collections. Just two come with any indication as to the original circumstances of their presentations or to whom they were given, and this is one of them. Ex Frederick G. Weber, June 2, 1980; John J. Ford, Jr., Stack’s sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVI, October 2006, lot 153.
