Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 203:
Description
Hayes Indian Peace Medal with presentation collar – PEACE reverse, c. 1877-81. Oval U.S. Mint Indian Peace Medal of President Rutherford B. Hayes, still on its period presentation collar: buff silk with silver lace borders, two embroidered silver stars, and a faded rose lining. The medal hangs from a simple iron ring through the original piercing at the top. Obverse: bearded bust left, RUTHERFORD B. HAYES – PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Reverse: the word PEACE in rays above a settler (axe in hand, cabin and plow behind) facing a Native man in a war bonnet who holds a rifle; below, crossed tomahawk and pipe in a wreath. George T. Morgan designed both sides. This was the first peace medal of the series to return to the large oval shape of the earliest American issues, and the first whose production was pushed by the Mint rather than the Indian Office. Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz chose this "civilization" reverse over a Plains-camp design. Silver strikings for chiefs were few; bronze examples were also struck. Contemporary requests from the Yankton Agency-for Chief Strike-the-Ree and others who had kept the Yanktons off the warpath and onto farms-arrived so late that Garfield medals went out instead. The large hanging medal on a starred collar is the form in which these pieces were meant to be worn at council. Collar with expected silk wear and lining stains; medal with even bronze tone and strong detail. A complete Hayes peace-medal set of the type used in the last years of the old presentation custom.
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