Indian Peace Medals
Scarce "Second Size" John Quincy Adams Indian Peace Medal Struck In Bronze & NGC Certified Mint State-62
1825-Dated John Quincy Adams Indian Peace Medal. Struck at the United States Mint in Bronze. 62mm. Second / Middle Size. By Moritz Furst and John Reich. First Reverse Type (Pre-1846). NGC graded Mint State-62 Brown.
Julian IP-12. 62mm. This historic John Quincy Adams Indian Peace Medal is an original that was struck at the United States Mint. It is struck in the rare "Middle" or "Second" size, as it is known. Obverse: Civil bust right variant of the Adams Inaugural Medal. Reverse: Die Pre-1846. Reverse: Clasp Hands and crossed Peace Pipe over a Tomahawk. It's eye appeal is excellent having rich natural mahogany-brown original color. This lovely Uncirculated medal has even brown fields showing a scattering of very faint contacts. This Medal is handsomely housed in its special, 6.5" x 4.75" custom NGC Certification display type white holder.
United State Indian Peace Medals were instrumental in building relationships with the various Indian Tribes. American Presidents (and their Colonial predecessors) used Indian Peace Medals as a way of placating various tribes and/or to build alliances with them. The recipients valued them highly, for they conferred a prestige that was recognized throughout the nation.



The Bureau of Indian Affairs considered them crucial and the Presidents for whom they were issued also knew their importance. Many images from the "Old West" show Indians proudly wearing their Peace Medals (sometimes more than one). Generally, bronze medals were not used for presentation purposes, but in some cases, they were silver-plated and either given, sold, or traded away by unscrupulous individuals to unwitting recipients.



Today, Bronze Indian Peace Medals are eagerly sought-after for several reasons. First, for their historic value. Second, these medals were primarily struck at the United States Mint, often from the very same dies that were used to strike the extremely rare Silver examples. U.S. Mint medals are known for their consistent high quality.



Third, the Bronze versions are quite affordable, specially compared to the vastly higher collector prices for the Silver versions (which often sell in the $10,000 and upwards range). Fourth, they are impressive in design, appearance and eye appeal. Even the smallest size (52 mm) is of an impressive size of bronze; the largest medals (76 mm) have a heft and presence that even non-numismatists can appreciate. Finally, they are rare.



Despite the fact that many of these Bronze medals were made strictly for sale to collectors, in many cases, their mintages are either extremely low, or collectors failed to respond to them when they were originally on sale thus having minuscule numbers issued. Thus, many of these medals are represented by very few survivors today.