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| Thomas Jefferson Indian Peace Medal |
| ©2000 The American Numismatic Society. Images are not to scale. Photography by Sharon Suchma, ANS Photography Department. |
1923.52.11: Hollow silver medal with loop and ring. 147gr. 103mm. Issued by the United States Mint. Obverse: Bust of Thomas Jefferson facing left. TH. JEFFERSON PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. A.D. 1801. Reverse: Clasped hands under crossed pipe and ax. PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP.
Indian Peace Medals were an important part of the relationship between the United States federal government and Native American peoples in the late 18th and 19th centuries; a relationship ostensibly governed by treaty and good faith but ultimately determined by force and self-interest. Following the practice established by European powers in the colonial period, presidents or their agents gave these medals to the chiefs of Native American tribes as physical tokens of friendship. Medals similar to the one illustrated here were carried by Lewis and Clarke on their 1804 expedition to explore the North American continent. The Jefferson medal is the first to bear the presidential likeness and the first to be struck as opposed to engraved. Original pieces are made from two separate silver sheets. Indian peace medals are a fascinating entry into this complex problem of American history and the links given below provide a few starting points for learning more about the medals and their historical context.
The ANS collection includes a large number of Indian peace medals of the Colonial and Federal periods. Many of these are later restrikes created to satisfy collector demand. Two pieces are interesting for their own particular histories. One medal issued by Abraham Lincoln (1917.161.1) was sold by an Ute Indian in Colorado in 1873 after the medal had stopped a bullet, thereby saving his life during a fire fight with another tribe. He gave up the medal because he was disappointed that it had not kept the enemy's bullets away from him altogether. Another Lincoln medal (1915.25.1) was buried with its owner between 1862 and 1868. These pieces and their stories attest to the significance ascribed to these medals by Native American society.
White House biography of Thomas Jefferson
Lewis and Clarke. The PBS Web-Site
Parker, A.G., "Lincoln Indian Peace Medal," in The Numismatist Vol. 26 (1913), p. 132.