Whatever may be the weight of General Scott's opinion on such a (p. xxvi) subject, and whether or not it is important, as he insists, that medals should possess high artistic value, in order that they may be not only the rewards of merit and monuments of history, but also favorable specimens of contemporary art, it must be acknowledged that those struck since 1840 differ widely, in many respects, from those of the preceding period. While the earlier works are of a pure and lofty style, the later ones are not always in good taste. The former are conceived generally in strict observance of classical rules, and will bear comparison with the numismatic masterpieces of antiquity; the latter reflect the realistic tendency of their day. The Indian medals, with the exception of that of President Jefferson and a few others, which are very fine, possess only an historic value. These pieces owe their origin to the custom, in the colonial times, of distributing to the chiefs of Indian tribes, with whom treaties were concluded, medals bearing on the obverse the effigy of the reigning British sovereign, and on the reverse friendly legends and emblems of peace. Mr. Kean, member of the Continental Congress from South Carolina, on April 20, 1786, moved: "That the Board of Treasury ascertain the number and value of the medals received by the commissioners appointed to treat with the Indians, from said Indians, and have an equal number, with the arms of the United States, made of silver, and returned to the chiefs from whom they were received." The result was the Indian series, which bear on their obverses the busts of the respective Presidents under whom they were issued (none (p. xxvii) exists of President Harrison, who died a month after his inauguration); but it should be borne in mind that these are mere Indian peace tokens, struck only for distribution as presents to friendly chiefs. I have called in question the discernment of some of the Federal administrations in their choice of engravers; unfortunately, I have also to draw attention to an unaccountable delay in the execution of one of the medals. It seems scarcely credible that the one voted in 1857 to Dr. Elisha Kent Kane for his discoveries in the Arctic Seas has not yet been struck. Elder, in his "Life of E. K. Kane" (page 228), says: "Congress having failed at its first session after his (Kane's) return to appropriate, by a national recognition, the honors he had won for his country, had no other opportunity for repairing the neglect till after his death; then a gold medal was ordered, of which, I believe, nothing has been heard since the passage of the resolution." To complete my undertaking, it was necessary not only to study the composition and history of all our national medals, but also to have plates of them engraved, which could only be done from the originals or copies, or, as a last resort, from casts.