Circa 1800 Washington Funeral Medal. Funeral Urn. GW on Base. Musante GW-72, Baker-167. Dies 6-F. White Metal. AU-50 (PCGS). <p>28 mm. Medium pewter gray with a streak of darker patina crossing the obverse, while the reverse offers pleasing aesthetic balance. Both sides retain traces of lighter brilliance close to the motifs which serves to pleasantly outline and accentuate the design features. Traces of light surface debris, but there does not seem to be any pesting or even serious marks from handling that often plague the Funeral Medals in this relatively fragile composition. <p><p><p>This is an important entry into the Martin Collection of Funeral Medals. It is not only an extremely rare variant but also a specimen of outstanding quality. Most collections are missing this rare type, with the GW block letters on the base of the urn, rather than emblazoned on the bowl in script.<p><p><p>The most recent of these to sell appeared in Heritage’s offering of the Donald Partrick Collection, in March 2021, where two GW on Base medals were included, representing two of the three (or four?) known die pairings. In their presentation, they referred to eight known specimens overall, including just two varieties, omitting reference to the third and potential fourth altogether, and counting one medal twice. We are aware of two examples for the Die Pair 5-E, not mentioned there. There are two examples known from Die Pair 7-G, and five known of Die Pair 6-F, as offered here. Another somewhat crudely made medal appeared in Ford II:183. That was from different dies altogether, but the style suggests it is unlikely to have come from Perkins’ shop. The five known from 6-F, in descending order of quality, are as follows:<p><p><p>1.Stack’s Bowers Galleries, May 2019:3268<p>2.Stack’s Bowers Galleries, August 2013:4010; Sydney F. Martin Collection. <strong>This example.</strong><p>3.Stack’s, January 2007:6711 <p>4.Rudy Sieck, Bowers and Ruddy, July 1981:2650; Donald Partrick; HA, March 2021:15167.<p>5.Heritage, April 2013:10268.<p><p><p>Considering the rarity of the GW on Base type overall, it is worth listing the two known examples from Die Pair 7-G, also in descending order of quality:<p><p><p>1.Stack’s Bowers, January 2007:6710<p>2.Donald Partrick, Heritage, March 2021:15166 (likely the Sylvester S. Crosby specimen offered by Empire Coin Company, in 1962)<p><p><p>And these are the two we are aware of from the 5-E die combination:<p><p><p>1.The Musante Plate used to illustrated these dies.<div>2.Stack’s Bowers Galleries, November 2015:23421.<div><p><div>As is evident from the listing above, this is the second finest known of the Die Pair 6-F medals, but it is also the second finest of the nine. It also stands out considerably for being the only GW on Base known without a suspension piercing. An impressive rarity that is certainly among the highlights of the Martin Collection Washington medals. This realized just over $22,000 in our August 2013 sale, while our more recent sale, the finest graded, brought $26,400. There is clear consistency in these realizations, but both sales pre-dated the recent increase in market enthusiasm for high quality rarities over the last two years. From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from our ANA Sale, August 2013, lot 4010.
