(c.1817) Medal GW-95 Roman Bust Shell Ag Gen. George Washington MS(PCGS#784318)

November 2019 Baltimore Colonial Coins and Americana Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

20084

等级

MS62

价格

134,751

详细说明

Very Rare Circa 1817 Roman Bust Shell Just Four Now in Private Hands Circa 1817 Washington Roman Bust medal. Silver shell. Uniface. Musante GW-95, Baker-173, Neuzil-41. Silver. MS-62 (PCGS). 63.9 mm. 101.9 grains. Deep bluish steel gray with nuances of deep brown on the obverse, while the reverse is a bit lighter. Thin and quite fragile, it is remarkable that all of the known specimens in private hands have remained in fairly good condition. This one has some light hairlines and tiny edge bends, none of which is distracting. Baker proposed in 1885 that this might have been an abandoned design for a Peace medal, probably drawing from the size, and the presence of the Washington portrait separating the Native American at left, and Minerva, Roman Goddess of War. Additionally, the plinth on which the Washington bust rests is decorated with a plowing farmer (reminiscent of the Seasons Medals, perhaps), along with a pile of armaments at the left foreground, and plaques representing the Ten Commandments at the right foreground, all of which could be symbolic of Peace and tranquil domesticity. While it was not an unreasonable conclusion by Baker, it is believed today that this was more likely a memorial creation made after Washington's death. It is traditionally dated to 1817 because it seems to have been mentioned in the catalog of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts of that year, and it is now believed to be the work of early American engraver Moritz Furst, best known for his series of military medals accomplished at about the same time. Chris Neuzil included this in his 1997 Coinage of the Americas Conference paper titled, Moritz Furst's American Medals, as entry 41. Therein, he declared "this unsigned medal is clearly by Furst; the allegorical figures duplicate his style on other medals." However, he was unfortunately unable to shed light on the purpose of this beautifully executed piece. According to Musante, there are only eight examples known, as follows: 1. W.S. Appleton;Massachusetts Historical Society 2. ANS(illustrated by Neuzil) 3. Smithsonian specimen 4. MountVernon 5. Virgil M. Brand;Bowers and Merena, June 1990 6. Jack Collins,Stack's, April 1996, lot 154 7. Mrs. J. Gilman D'Arcy Paul;Maryland Historical Society; Stack's, January 2010, lot 4882 8. The present specimen As is clear from this list, only half of the known specimens are in private hands, and it has been nearly a decade since one was sold (our January 2010 sale). Prior to that it had been 14 years since we sold the Jack Collins specimen in our April 1996 auction. In fact, we are the only firm to have handled these pieces over a long period of time and, remarkably, we have now presented all four of those privately held. They have proven fairly consistent in terms of their realizations which is suggestive of their enduring appeal, since there are now twice as many known as there were in 1996. The revelations of new specimens have included four pieces that were held in institutional collections (though two have now been deaccessioned), so the likelihood of new specimens coming to light that collectors might be able to acquire is extremely slim. Provenance: Ex Charles I. Bushnell, S.H. and H. Chapman, June 1882, lot 1332; William Spohn Baker Collection, to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by bequest, November 15, 1897. Click here for certification details from PCGS.