1797 (ca. 1816) Halliday Medal. Musante GW-57, Baker-70C. Bronze. Plain Edge. Plain, Beveled Rims. About Uncirculated, Graffiti. 54 mm. With richly original patina in a blend of olive-bronze and medium brown, as well as plenty of good gloss, this piece presents exceptionally well in hand. The design elements are sharply rendered, as well, and there is little rub even to the high points. Our qualifier concerns several light, wispy pin scratches in the fields on both sides, the reverse also with a series of staccato-like nicks in the field below the letter R in RELINQUISHED and on the pedestal. 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 to 1816 featuring famous persons, and some of them are of very similar size and loosely of similar style to that seen here. It is our belief that an earlier vintage (predating the Sansom issues, as has been proposed) is just too early for Hallidays 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.
