James Polk Indian Peace Medal, 1845. Silver. Middle Size. First Reverse. J.IP.25, Pr.46, B.39. About Uncirculated. 62.4mm. Rims 3.6 - 3.8mm thick. 1,427.5 gns. An exceptional specimen. Nice, rich satiny smooth pearl grey in color on both sides, the obverse a shade darker than the back, with light blue iridescence. Both surfaces are brightly reflective. Neatly holed at the top; hanger missing, old wire loop. Minor handling marks especially for a middle size medal. Patch of rust on the reverse rim at left as visible on the next.
Very rare: only 17 medals of this size were not melted at the Mint. This size is known in silver originals and copper restrikes. The most recent record known to the cataloguer for a 62mm Polk is the December, 1996 Sotheby's (New York) sale of a corroded About Very Fine which sold for a respectable price at the time of $6,875 and went, by way of Stack's, into the Lloyd Schermer Collection at the National Museum of American History. The same medal, today, would bring four or five times that amount without difficulty. Carlson's research yielded only 2 auction records for a silver 62mm Polk.
Ex F.C.C. Boyd Estate.
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