1800 Hero of Freedom Medal. Musante GW-81, Baker-79BA. Copper--Overstruck on a Great Britain 1797 Penny--MS-64 BN (PCGS). 38.4 mm. 430.4 grains. Delightful mahogany and chocolate brown surfaces with just a trace of delicate blue and violet iridescence noted in the gently prooflike fields. Minor softness at the highest point of obverse relief and at the reverse area in direct opposition, but loss of detail is confined to some of the fine hair strands of the portrait. Very little handling of any kind, but there is a trace of light natural surface debris in some of the recesses around the legends. A very handsome specimen and clearly overstruck on one of the 1797 Great Britain penny hosts. Evidence of the undertype is seen at the usual place, in the rims. These are mostly on the reverse here, but part of what seems to be an X (likely of REX) can be seen just to the lower left of the truncation of Washingtons shoulder. As we have written about in other sales, there is also a circular lathe mark at the reverse center, at the O of COUNTRY. What is unusual about this piece, is that there seems to be a fainter secondary mark of this type just below the one described. The lathe mark is seen on all overstruck pieces, but it is also noted on some that do not have other evidence of undertype, suggesting that it is possible that most or all the Hero of Freedom medals were over these British hosts. If so, some were simply better ground prior to restriking and thus show virtually no evidence of prior use. From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from Lester Merkins sale of February 1972, lot 54.
