I went to a political items convention last week, the APIC National Convention which was held in Danvers, Masschusetts. There were many great items to see and purchase. My big purchase was an 1825 John Quincy Adams inaugural medal. The dies for this piece were made by Moritz Furst, a Hungarian immigrant. Furst designed many medals for the U.S. Mint in the early 19th century. The piece is in white metal. It was also struck in silver, which is rarer, but this is rare enough. NGC has graded three of these pieces, this piece an MS-61 and two in MS-62. John Quincy Adams was no too pleased with this piece. He made a comment that the medalist was both a poor man and a poor artist. He had ordered 10 pieces in silver. Fewer than that exist today. The white metal pieces are more common with perhaps 15 or so survivors. Many of them are beat-up, and are not as nice as this one.
