Undated (circa 1727-1760) George II Indian Trade medal. Brass. Jamieson-Unlisted; Quarcoopome-Unlisted. Extremely Fine. 37.5 mm. 234.3 grains. Original integral suspension loop intact. Handsome olive brown surfaces with generous outlines of warm golden brass around the obverse motif and close to the rims. Some minor irregularities are seen along the rims. A couple of minor spots and some faint old scratches are noted in the obverse field, but the surfaces are glossy and quite attractive otherwise. Beautifully struck with excellent detail and outstanding eye appeal.<p><p>This medal is unique in our experience. It clearly belongs among the brass Indian Trade medal genre, by size, design, composition, and texture; its obverse and reverse devices are just too similar to the known varieties for this medal to have served some other function. It is distinctive from the more common varieties in a few major ways. The bust (which faces left, rather than right) is signed IR at the shoulder truncation. The obverse legend is Latin, rather than English. The reverse, while anepigraphic like the most common types, is a bit more elegantly executed. Just as the obverse bust faces a different direction, the positions of the hunter and deer are switched on either side of the tree (which looks more like a magnolia and less like a stylized palm). <p> <p>Speculating on the where and why of this medal isnt terribly useful, but we can state the following with some certainty. Its cast integral hanger is delicate enough (though fully intact on this specimen) that this would not have been a very successful ornamental item. Thus, if this was produced as a commercial venture to sell to traders active in the fur trade, it would have been a less successful product than the sturdier medals of the more common type. This medal was made by a medallist with enough experience to cut high style dies and sign them. And, finally and perhaps most importantly, the non-coincidental choice of metallic composition and design means either all of the more common medals were inspired by this piece, or this piece was inspired by them. The latter seems more likely. It seems clear to us that this was produced as a competitive product to the more common sort of brass Indian Trade medalets but was less successful in achieving market share for one reason or other. It is both rare and important. <em>From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from A.H. Baldwin & Sons, Ltd., July 14, 1969; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XVI, October 2006, lot 38. </em><em></em>
