1889 Bronze Medal J-IP-47, Benjamin Harrison

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,920 SP63 04-03-2024 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1889 bronzed copper Indian Peace Medal cataloged as Julian IP-47 bears the portrait of President Benjamin Harrison, whose single term from 1889 to 1893 coincided with some of the final major confrontations between the United States military and Native American nations, including the Wounded Knee Massacre of December 29, 1890. Harrison's administration oversaw the opening of the Oklahoma Territory to white settlement in the Land Run of 1889, which displaced the Native American nations that had been forcibly relocated there decades earlier. The obverse features a right-facing bust of Harrison with the inscription BENJAMIN HARRISON PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. A.D. 1889, rendered in the bronzed copper finish. The reverse carries the peace medal design. The Harrison peace medal is among the last issues in the traditional presidential Indian Peace Medal series. The Wounded Knee Massacre, in which approximately 300 Lakota men, women, and children were killed by the 7th Cavalry, stands as one of the darkest episodes in the history of American Indian relations. That peace medals bearing Harrison's portrait were being distributed during the same period as this atrocity underscores the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the program throughout its history.

Rarity Notes

Bronzed copper finish produced in limited quantities. Harrison's single term and the declining diplomatic relevance of peace medals limited distribution numbers.

Cross References

Julian IP-47; PCGS #924198