Circa 1816 Halliday Medal. Musante GW-57, Baker-70C. Bronze. Plain edge. Plain, beveled rims. SP-64 (PCGS).54.2 mm. 1070.6 grains. Beautiful light olive brown, with the appearance of having been struck in a bronze alloy rather than having been uniformly and darkly bronzed as sometimes seen on this medal. Light woodgrain striations on both sides are a bit heavier on the reverse and are a feature often seen on Halliday medals with this finish. Glossy and gently prooflike in the fields with a few trivial spots scattered about that are unlikely to be noticed at all without magnification. Similarly, a thin old scratch is noted in the reverse field left of the fasces. The plain rims are slightly beveled, which was clearly part of the original finishing. A couple of small rim nicks are noted, but really take very little from the overall eye appeal of this superb specimen.<p><p><p>Though there are different opinions as to the precise vintage of the Halliday medal, we subscribe to the traditional timeline placing this circa 1816, and after the Sansom medal with which it roughly shares a design. Halliday produced a small series of medals circa 1812-1816 featuring famous persons, and some of them are of very similar size and loosely of similar style to that seen here. It is the writer’s belief that an earlier vintage (predating the Sansom issues, as has been proposed) is just too early for Halliday’s known working dates. In any case, the Halliday medal has long been a classic of the Washington series and seems to be meeting with increasing demand in recent years, particularly when the quality is as nice as seen here.<p><p>From the E Pluribus Unum Collection.
