Medal (Peace medal)

Description

This oval sheet silver medal encircled by a perpendicular border with an applied suspension loop is engraved on both sides to resemble a peace medal intended for presentation to Native American leaders. In April 1789 George Washington began to serve in the newly established office of President. His administration, and those of following decades, adopted the colonial practices of incorporating silver medals into negotiations when such items were acceptable to the tribes involved. This large oval medal is a copy of the earliest known peace medal. It depicts an idealized Native American man with Athena/Minerva, the classical goddess of war, on the obverse and has a variation of the Great Seal of the United States on the reverse side. A second medal from 1792 also survives, with the figure of Washington supplanting the figure of Athena, but both versions have been copied and reproduced or made as fakes. Winterthur’s medal has no known history of ownership before Henry Francis du Pont acquired it. Scrutiny by scholars and collectors since 1961 have held opposing views about its authenticity. It is a convincing fake. For comparison, genuine 1789 medals are known in the American Numismatic Society collection and the Crane collection, Denver Museum of Nature & Science.