Treaty of Greenville (Greeneville) 1795 Peace Medal

[HenrikV]

Hello,

Thought i would show this piece. While i have no idea if this is genuine or not, it is a beautiful thing. I got this one from a gentleman in the US who as far as i know got it from a collector of antique indian artifacts. As i understand it, these indian peace medals awarded during George Washington are extremely hard to authenticate as they were hand engraved on silver plates, makes each and every one kinda unique. The devil is in the details, and this piece is extremely detailed. While my camera won't capture these details, they are clear under microscope. The edge appears to have some details enameled at some point. The backside is close to identical, but as it is engraved by hand not 100%.

I see these offered on eBay and other auction sites etc, but mostly they appear to be cast fakes.

Pretty similar medal with some info shown here: Wyandot History: A Guide to Original Sources and Current Scholarship | Treaty of Greenville Medal, 1795

 

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[Buckleberry]

Pretty cool, I have a replica and yours looks much different, hope it's real.
BTW) I have a few fields I hunt that are right on the border of the treaty line, a huge old, giant oak, that they've since taken down a few year ago was supposedly used as one of the markers along the line.

 

[HenrikV]

Very interesting! Have you found anything near or at the treaty line? Anything left of the old oak?

Yeah, would be very cool if it was genuine. I have been in contact with someone who collects these Peace Medals, and was told unless there is some sort of Rock Solid 100% watertight provenance back to the original owner, they can be really, really hard to judge. I have read that around 94 medals were originally created, and less than 10 believable examples exists today, or is known to exist today. This one has been polished (not by me!!) some time ago, so it's quite shiny, makes it hard to photograph.

Here's an attempt to show better photos of it.

 

[Buckleberry]

Yeah,, I'll try and get some pics next time in the area and also ask an old timer I know if it's the right tree, it could still be up. It marked the very SE corner of the treaty line.
Oh, yeah it's right on the Tuscarawas (Tuscaroras) river, so I've found plenty of artifacts on the fields there that I have permission to hunt...nothing I would suspect being from colonial times though. It's also just north of Fort Laurens which was the westernmost military outpost of the United States at one time they shut down after an Indian war party attacked it and killed I think nine soldiers, they have a museum there now. It's also just east of Beavertown, a semi-famous Indian village/trading post from that era as well.

 

[james-florida]

Really cool. Hope it proves to be authentic!

 

[Bquamb]

That is truly beautiful!

 

[BagLady]

Wow! What a beautiful piece of history! How much does it weigh? Could the weight be a deciding factor in authenticating it?

 

[HenrikV]

Yeah,, I'll try and get some pics next time in the area and also ask an old timer I know if it's the right tree, it could still be up. It marked the very SE corner of the treaty line.
Oh, yeah it's right on the Tuscarawas (Tuscaroras) river, so I've found plenty of artifacts on the fields there that I have permission to hunt...nothing I would suspect being from colonial times though. It's also just north of Fort Laurens which was the westernmost military outpost of the United States at one time they shut down after an Indian war party attacked it and killed I think nine soldiers, they have a museum there now. It's also just east of Beavertown, a semi-famous Indian village/trading post from that era as well.

Very interesting! Would love to see any photos you can share from this site, great connection to the medals! :-)


Thank you for the nice comments! It's a nice piece, and way nicer in hand. I originally bought it mainly cause it was nice to look at and interesting. But it would of course be quite neat if it was genuine!

It has been said and written, that these were engraved by a silversmith by the name Joseph Richardson Jr, this i believe is speculations based on the other Washington peace medals as some has a silvermark that might be attributed to him. The Treaty of Greenville (Greeneville) medals are as far as i know always unmarked, and it's not known who made them for sure. I have compared this one with a well made assumed forgery made in silver, and it was evident that the details on this one is much finer. Whoever made it, and whenever it was made, someone put a great deal of work into it. I will find a good scale and figure out what the weight is, the size is identical to the one linked to in the first post, 79 x 109 mm.

 

[rock]

Lots of details on it hope it is real.

 

[GaRebel1861]

Here is one that was given to me years ago. All I know of it is that it was purchased at a native American festival in Albany Georgia sometime prior to 1994. I have no idea if it is real or not. It is made of silver and has a small rust stain as if it was buried next to an iron object. Because I can not prove that it is authentic I do not display it and it sits in a box.

 

[HenrikV]

I had forgotten about this thread. It is my understanding, that these are fairly impossible to authenticate as they have been faked for a long time. And there is no 'textbook' since they won't be identical, those who are easy to take are the cast fakes all over eBay (sold as such often). Apparently, these medals hung quite high with the Native and often went to the grave with them, or passed on to a member of the family. I have the George Washington peace medal as well somewhere, silver as well. But that one i'm 99% certain is fake, not hand engraved with rough details.

Nice medal you show and very similar! As you, i do not know with mine. I have it displayed with other curiosa (who knows) stuff, and whatever it is, displays nice!

 

[smc7175]

My father passed and left me a Greenville Treaty medal among other Indian artifacts. I wish to sell it as I have no use for it. Where do you suggest I take it?

 

[ToddsPoint]

My father passed and left me a Greenville Treaty medal among other Indian artifacts. I wish to sell it as I have no use for it. Where do you suggest I take it?

I’d send it to Heritage Auctions. They will authenticate it…or not! Nationwide auction house. If it is authentic Heritage will get you top dollar.

 

[dognose]

each medal was hand engraved, so no two would be identical.

here is a two Greenville medals, both obtained from an old time collector, who lived in Greenville Ohio, when I visited Greenville which is not too far from me.

 

[ToddsPoint]

I do a bit of engraving on guns. The medals on this thread were all engraved by the same jewelry engraver. Look at the “5” in the 1795 date. The slant 5s on all three weren’t a coincidence. I’d never seen one of these medals before but they are truly treasure.