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c. 1805 George Washington Eccleston Tribute Medal Baker-85 Struck in Bronze AU

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:650.00 USD Estimated At:900.00 - 1,200.00 USD
c. 1805 George Washington Eccleston Tribute Medal Baker-85 Struck in Bronze AU
Washington Related
Popular 1805 George Washington “Eccleston” Medal B-85 Native American Indian Laments “THE LAND WAS OURS”
(1805) George Washington Eccleston Medal. Struck in Bronze. Baker-85. by Daniel Eccleston, Dies cut by Thomas Webb. About Uncirculated.
76 millimeters. Rarity-6. This scarce large size historical Tribute Memorial Medal is to George Washington. The Obverse design: Large Washington bust right, in distinctive armored garb with legend reading, “INSCRIBED TO HIS MEMORY BY D. ECCLESTON, LANCASTER.” William S. Baker called the armor design, "a singular conceit." The Reverse design shows: Three-line concentric “tribute” around a standing Native American Indian from the 1775 Deeds of Peace Medal with legend reading, “THE LAND WAS OURS.” This historic medal is light chocolate-brown with some golden tones about its devices and legends showing only a few trivial contact marks and faint scrapes on the reverse. Eccleston himself was a Quaker “Eccentric” of great wealth who backed both American Independence and Native American Indian rights.

We repeat the description given by George Fuld and Russell Rulau in their excellent version of the “Medallic Portraits of Washington” which reads: “A superb medal in every respect. Published by Daniel Eccleston of Lancaster, England. Dies cut by Thomas Webb, a British engraver who worked 1804-1827. This piece apparently was issued with a twist of subtle satire. The obverse of the medal depicts Washington in a heavy suit of armor - ‘a singular conceit,’ notes Baker. The reverse shows a native American Indian standing head downcast, with an arrow in his right hand and leaning on a bow. Then, surrounding the Indian at center are the words “THE LAND WAS OURS.” The medal appears to be more of a commentary on the expropriation by colonists of Indian lands than a tribute to Washington. Yet the phrase ‘Innumerable millions yet unborn’ is truly laudatory of the nation’s first president and commander-in-chief during the Revolutionary War.”