(1832) Medal Stuart Portrait, GW-84 WM MS (PCGS#764437)
November 2019 Baltimore Colonial Coins and Americana Auction
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 20071
- 等级
- MS63
- 价格
- 42,110
- 详细说明
- Charles Bushnell’s Stuart Portrait Medal
Circa 1832 Stuart Portrait medal. Musante GW-84, Baker-129. White Metal. MS-63 (PCGS).
44.2 mm. 407.5 grains. Light gray with satiny luster and a bit of visual contrast between the obverse fields and devices. The reverse is a bit more subdued with soft gray patination through the central fields. Still, some shimmering brilliance is noted in the intricacies of the wreath. This is a superb specimen of this medal, which is more often than not seen pierced, roughly handled or considerably pested. This piece is none of the above and offers better eye appeal than any example we recall having handled. One small low point in the obverse rim just left of WASHINGTON seems to have been the result of a small void in the flan. Aside from a few tiny marks, this medal is essentially problem-free.
Baker wrote that this was “issued in all probability immediately after the decease of Washington” and claimed it to be “of English origin, the head after Stuart,” the latter comment being the apparent source of the “Stuart Portrait” name used ever since. Rulau and Fuld carried forward the “early 19th century” suggestion of vintage, though Musante has updated the source to the United States in the 1830s, with which we agree. The fabric and style are very much like certain campaign pieces struck around the election of 1832, one for Henry Clay (DeWitt HC 1832-2) being a prime example. However, this is based almost solely on style and fabric of this piece and other campaign pieces of the period, as we have not been able to match any letter punches. Musante points out that “possibly it was made at the time of the Centennial celebration of Washington’s birth,” which is a very reasonable proposal. We know that there was a major civic procession in Philadelphia for the event, and it is likely there were other smaller events elsewhere. While these medals are quite rare, it is notable that a number of the survivors were pierced for suspension (including both of John Ford’s specimens), and are now pested from exposure and handling. This points to an eventwhere these would have been intended as celebratory adornment. Considering the simple “Born and Died” legend, the most likely event of celebration was Washington’s birth.
Provenance: Ex Charles I. Bushnell, S.H. and H. Chapman, June 1882, lot 1331; William Spohn Baker Collection, to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by bequest, November 15, 1897.
Click here for certification details from PCGS.
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