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D2007-CMD-0378
"Treaty of Easton" or "Quaker" Indian Peace Medal
D2007-CMD-0378

"Treaty of Easton" or "Quaker" Indian Peace Medal

Date1757
Maker Edward Duffield & Joseph Richardson, Sr.
Commissioned by The Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians
OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
MediumSilver
DimensionsDiameter: 44 mm; Weight: 406.5 grains
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2006-141
DescriptionObverse: A bust of George II facing left, wearing a cuirass and a laurel wreath, with the legend GEORGIVS • II • DEI • GRATIA • around.

Reverse: A scene of a Native American about to receive a winged peace pipe, being passed to him over a camp fire by a Quaker man, all below a tree and a human-faced sun. All surrounded by the legend LET US LOOK TO THE MOST HIGH WHO BLESSED OUR FATHERS WITH PEACE, and the date 1757• in exergue.

Edge: Milled, as applied to the host coin, a Spanish colonial "Pillar Dollar."

Originally made with a suspension loop at 12:00, the medal is now pierced for wearing just below its attachment point.
Label TextDocumented as the first American-made Indian Peace medal, these extreme rarities are also landmarks of mid-18th century American silverwork. All examples started out as Spanish colonial "Pillar Dollar" coins, being the most commonly available silver dollar in the thirteen colonies. Each was filed smooth on each face, leaving only the ornate "milled" edge of the host coin intact. Dies cut by noted clockmaker Edward Duffield were used to strike the medals in the shop of silversmith Joseph Richardson, Sr., using a collar to align the dies and strong blows from a heavy sledge hammer.

Intended as diplomatic gifts from a group of Quaker merchants in Philadelphia, the medals were meant to foster fruitful and friendly relationships with the Native tribes living in Pennsylvania. As pacifists, peace and trade were clearly superior to war and death, thus the scene on the back of the medal and its accompanying legend. Numerous conferences were held between the two parties between 1756 and 1758, and it is believed examples of this medal were distributed at the signing of the Treaty of Easton in October of 1758. This highly important agreement between Anglo-American leaders and the chiefs of thirteen Native American nations brought peace to Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Ohio country.
ProvenanceEx New Netherlands coin Company on August 24, 1967 Charles M. Wormser, Horace Louis Philip Brand, Virgil Brand Collection (B.G. Johnson appraisal no. 2951 on May 23, 1935), Dr. Hall Collection.

John J. Ford, Jr., Stack's 10-17-2006, Lot 40