Undated (1847) State of Louisiana Medal to Major General Zachary Taylor.

Undated (1847) State of Louisiana Medal to Major General Zachary Taylor. Julian MI-25. Bronze. MS-61 BN (NGC). 76.3 mm. Sharply struck on a thick planchet. Both sides exhibit blended autumn-orange and olive-brown patina. Scattered field marks and a few faint carbon spots are consistent with the assigned grade, but most are singularly inconspicuous during in-hand appreciation. There is plenty of eye appeal, as one would perhaps expect for such a large-size medal with outstanding design features. Produced in antebellum New Orleans through contract with the firm of H[orace] E. Baldwin & Co., silversmiths, the dies were created by America's most famed medalist of the period - Charles Cushing Wright - with the design assistance of New Yorker Peter Paul Duggan, an historian and professor of drawing at New York's Free Academy. The same design team accomplished the Washington Allston medal struck by the Mint in this era. The military scene on the reverse is reminiscent of the finest work of Dupre or Furst and is glorious in its fine detail. It is unclear if H.E. Baldwin & Co. had the means to strike such a substantial medal themselves or subcontracted its actual coining. Taylor received a gold striking and at least one in silver. Other silver medals were presented to Taylor's staff, while copper examples like this were probably either sold to collectors or distributed to other VIPs. Today, the silver and copper medals are similarly rare. In the last 20 years (including the January 2005 Ford sale), we've offered a silver example on seven occasions, including two individual medals in the Ford sale and four total offerings of two other medals since. Ford also owned two copper specimens, and we've sold seven other copper ones in the 20 years since, not counting the one in the present sale. Provenance: From the Henry Mitchell Collection. Earlier from Presidential Coin and Antique Co., Inc.'s Benj Fauver Collections sale, July 2006, lot 339. Click here for certification details from NGC.

Estimate:£0.74

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