1857 James Buchanan Inaugural Medal. By Anthony C. Pacquet. MacNeil p. 26, DeWitt-JB 1856-1. Silvered White Metal. MS-61 (NGC).61 mm. This is a handsome piece, fully original in preservation, the obverse with mottled steel-rose and sandy-gold patina, the reverse peripherally toned in rich steel-blue. The silvering has worn though on a few obverse high points, exposing the soft gray metal beneath to the elements, thereby explaining the faint traces of carbon seen on Buchanans portrait. A rare medal struck decades before the first medals identified with the Inaugural Committees of the modern era, but one that has long been sought by determined collectors made aware of it through DeWitt or Neil MacNeils anecdotal history and catalog, <em>The Presidents Medal</em>. Only three appear in our online archives, two white metal, one silvered white metal, and all inferior to this.Sold by the Yale University Art Gallery for the benefit of acquisition funds of the Numismatic Collection.
