AMESBURY, MASS. — John McInnis sold a large collection of trade tokens, medals, and other exonumia Saturday, April 2. Creating the most presale interest, and bringing the highest price at $18,400 was an 1800 John Adams medal, apparently made of copper. The winning bidder was Rex Stark, a leading dealer in historical and political Americana.
At 1½ inches in diameter, the medal had a profile bust of Adams on the front, along with the wording “President Uni. S. America 1800 John Adams Esq” and the reverse was stamped “Pres Adams-Born Mass- Oct- 30-1735” surrounding “Vice President 1789” and below the center was the stamp of the maker, “A. Peasley DS.” Aaron Peasly was a button maker in Boston, best known for making military buttons.
A group of 12 Civil War era encased postage stamps brought $17,250. According to Stark, the lot included one rare piece, issued by Claflin’s Clothes, Hopkinton, Mass., and that item justified the price of the lot.
The second day of the sale was devoted to photographica. There were hundreds of daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, numerous gutta percha cases, hundreds of stereo views, dozens of cameras, and hundreds of albumen prints, including some mammoth plate Carlton Watkins views of Yosemite. The sale included many photographs of local interest and glass plate negatives of surrounding towns.
A full review of the auction will follow.
