collecting indian peace medals - realistic?

dorkkarl

i know that these are not slabed, so this may not be the appropriate venue, but does anyone on here collect 'em? is it outside the realm of possibility for someone of very average funds (such as, oh, i don't know, myself for example) to collect these?

K S

BillJones

Yes, it's quite difficult to collect REAL Indian peace medals. And you can get into real hot water if somebody gets the idea that your medal have was illegally taken from a grave. And if you are a condition fanatic, you are going to be disappointed with some of the items that become available. The Indians wore these things, when the medals tarnished one of the ways to shine them up was to rub them with sand.

You can collect the modern “yellow bronze” mint medals that bear the same designs. The cheapest way to buy them is in the secondary market. (Let some else take the “new medal hit” and buy it from the mint first.) One the next level you can collect the old mint medals with the better finishes. There is even the “young collectors’” series of presidential medalets, which used to sell for 50 cents each. SEE PICTURE.

There are options. But collecting the real thing takes a big check book and some patience.

BTW if you do have the big pocket book, I could hook you up with the real thing from time to time.

MadMonk

I love medals, and have considered collecting them many times over the years. Maybe some day, when things settle down, and I happen to have a lot of disposable income. Then I might start some serious research. But I will qualify this by saying coins will probably always come first.

baccaruda

when the medals tarnished one of the ways to shine them up was to rub them with sand

uh-oh. you mean you're not supposed to clean coins that way?

dorkkarl

hey billjones, thanks for the advice. i don't care 1 iota about the condition of ipm's, i've seen a few & it's the historic concept behind 'em that strikes my fancy. but i defintiely don't have the big bucks, so it sounds like your advising against it. i think i've seen some of the washington medals around $10K, right? those are the silver 1's? & bronze medals are i'm guessing around $1K?

either way, both figures are out of my price range for something i'm not a bit better-informed about. thanks for the help

K S

BillJones

The medals that were awarded to the Indians were silver pieces. They could come in three sizes. The size of the medal depended upon the importance of the recipient.

The first U.S. medals (King George issued some to the Indians before we did; engraved pieces were issued on behalf of George Washington) were issued in the name of Thomas Jefferson. They were made as two shells and were hollow because the first mint was incapable of striking a large solid model. The Indians didn’t like that very much and soon the government was awarding solid silver pieces to them.

Bronze copies from the mid 19th century are not terribly expensive. The prices have gone up, but collectors can still buy nice EF-AU examples for a few hundred dollars so long it's not a Lincoln or Andrew Jackson medal, and they are quite attractive.

If you would like to a reference source, I’ll have to go roaming through my library.