Jackson Indian Peace Medal, 1829, with red velvet

Jackson Indian Peace Medal, 1829, with red velvet presentation collar. Large round U.S. Mint Indian Peace Medal of Andrew Jackson, dated A.D. 1829, still hanging from a period red-velvet collar with cream silk panels and silver braid, tan lining. Obverse: bust right in civilian dress, ANDREW JACKSON PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Reverse: the classic PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP type-clasped hands (uniformed cuff at left, plain at right) beneath a crossed tomahawk and peace pipe. This is the medal of Jackson's first term, issued as the government pressed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the treaties that followed. Peace medals had been a diplomatic tool since Washington and Jefferson; by Jackson's day they were still hung on the necks of chiefs at council even as removal policy emptied the South and the old Northwest. Silver originals went to ranking leaders; bronze strikings, as here, were also produced and later collected as part of the presidential series. Collar with expected velvet crush and fading; medal with even yellow-bronze color, sharp handshake and pipe-and-hatchet, original piercing and iron hanger. A complete wearing set from the Removal-era presidency.