(c.1867) Medal JAB-29 Brass Daniel Webster MS(PCGS#887091)

November 2021 Baltimore U.S. Coins auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

10228

等级

MS65

价格

5,734

详细说明

Extremely Rare Able Defender in Brass Bolen's Reference Specimen Undated (ca. 1867) Webster / The Able Defender medal by J.A. Bolen. Musante JAB-29. Brass. Marked “B” on edge. MS-65 (PCGS). 25.3 mm. 148.4 grains. Warm golden brass with soft rose overtones through the pleasantly prooflike fields. Sharply struck on a thick flan and nicely preserved, with just a couple of minuscule spots and marks seen under magnification. There is a large discrepancy in reported mintages for this issue in brass. The 1868 AJN listing gives the mintage as just one in this composition, while the 1882 Johnson listing gives the number as 14, the same as for copper impressions. Based on appearances of specimens, the mintages for copper and brass can't be the same, as copper impressions are typically seen and we have only one other brass example in our archives-one which could be explained as a Kline restrike. What we do know is that the AJN list was compiled within a year of the cutting of these dies and, presumably, the striking of the Bolen originals, and it was derived from notes provided by Bolen himself and his collaborator, Major C.P. Nichols. It is unlikely that this data is incorrect, and circumstantial evidence suggests that if there is an error, it is in the 1882 listing. As such, this is probably unique in brass, as a Bolen original. Board Position: D 3/3 Provenance: From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from the personal reference collection of John Adams Bolen.