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Long Beach Signature US Coin Sale 1252 16-17 Feb 2017
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U.S. Mint Medals
(1798) Washington "Seasons" Indian Peace Medal, The Farmer -- Tooled -- NGC Details. AU. Baker-171, Julian IP-53a, Musante GW-68. Silver, 48 mm. Plain edge. In October 1796, George Washington's third Secretary of War, James McHenry, ordered Seasons medals in silver and copper, as the first Indian peace medals struck for the United States. The U.S. minister to Great Britain, Rufus King, enlisted celebrated American artist John Trumbull to produce drawings for three obverse designs (known today as The Shepherd, The Farmer, and The Family) and a common reverse bearing the legend SECOND / PRESIDENCY / OF / GEO. WASHINGTON / MDCCXCVI. Trumbull is best known today for the painting Declaration of Independence in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, found on the back of the two dollar bill since the U.S. Bicentennial.
King delivered Trumbull's designs to Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in England. The dies were engraved by Boulton employee Conrad Heinrich Küchler, and the medals were struck during 1798. By this time, Washington's former Vice President, John Adams, was President. The Seasons medals were shipped to America but remained undistributed until Adams was succeeded by his political rival, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's greatest accomplishment in office was the Louisiana Purchase, which nearly doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition, where a number of Seasons medals were distributed.
Dr. Francis Prucha suggests that the Seasons medals were unpopular with Native Americans, who were accustomed to medals bearing large portraits of kings. This may explain the rarity of the silver medals, which are typically seen in lower grades and in lesser numbers than their copper equivalents. The designs of the Seasons medals were "emblematic of the progressive states of man from the savage to the earliest arts of civilized life," according to their originator, Secretary of War James McHenry.
The Farmer design, also known as The Sower, is very rare in silver format. John J. Ford, Jr. had two examples (II:186 and XVI:103) described as Fine and Very Fine, and those appear to be the only ones to surface in recent years, besides the present piece. It is a well-defined pearl-gray example with hints of wheat-gold and sea-green toning in protected areas. The surfaces are glossy from a long-ago wipe, and display two clusters of unobtrusive pinscratches near the farmer. Slight edge knocks are noted at 6 o'clock on the obverse and 11 o'clock on the reverse. Such problems are customary for silver Seasons medals, which are desirable as the first Indian Peace medals of our nation.
(1798) Washington "Seasons" Indian Peace Medal, The Farmer -- Tooled -- NGC Details. AU. Baker-171, Julian IP-53a, Musante GW-68. Silver, 48 mm. Plain edge. In October 1796, George Washington's third Secretary of War, James McHenry, ordered Seasons medals in silver and copper, as the first Indian peace medals struck for the United States. The U.S. minister to Great Britain, Rufus King, enlisted celebrated American artist John Trumbull to produce drawings for three obverse designs (known today as The Shepherd, The Farmer, and The Family) and a common reverse bearing the legend SECOND / PRESIDENCY / OF / GEO. WASHINGTON / MDCCXCVI. Trumbull is best known today for the painting Declaration of Independence in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, found on the back of the two dollar bill since the U.S. Bicentennial.
King delivered Trumbull's designs to Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in England. The dies were engraved by Boulton employee Conrad Heinrich Küchler, and the medals were struck during 1798. By this time, Washington's former Vice President, John Adams, was President. The Seasons medals were shipped to America but remained undistributed until Adams was succeeded by his political rival, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's greatest accomplishment in office was the Louisiana Purchase, which nearly doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition, where a number of Seasons medals were distributed.
Dr. Francis Prucha suggests that the Seasons medals were unpopular with Native Americans, who were accustomed to medals bearing large portraits of kings. This may explain the rarity of the silver medals, which are typically seen in lower grades and in lesser numbers than their copper equivalents. The designs of the Seasons medals were "emblematic of the progressive states of man from the savage to the earliest arts of civilized life," according to their originator, Secretary of War James McHenry.
The Farmer design, also known as The Sower, is very rare in silver format. John J. Ford, Jr. had two examples (II:186 and XVI:103) described as Fine and Very Fine, and those appear to be the only ones to surface in recent years, besides the present piece. It is a well-defined pearl-gray example with hints of wheat-gold and sea-green toning in protected areas. The surfaces are glossy from a long-ago wipe, and display two clusters of unobtrusive pinscratches near the farmer. Slight edge knocks are noted at 6 o'clock on the obverse and 11 o'clock on the reverse. Such problems are customary for silver Seasons medals, which are desirable as the first Indian Peace medals of our nation.