Owner Comments:
MEDAL APPEARANCE/CONDITION:
Brilliant Gem Proof: Ultra Cameo
Pedigreed: #067
*Beautiful untoned blast-white blazer with sharp detail and deeply mirrored cameo surfaces. The specimen appears nearly flawless; uncertain why it was graded down to PF-65. The only significant observable characteristic is the edge of the medal on the reverse next to “067.” However, this appears to be a genuine production error. — Although it is not known how many examples were struck, 067 is an extremely low serial number, making this piece all the more rarel.*
MEDAL BACKGROUND:
Commemorates the centennial of Otis, Colorado and recognizes both the Otis Water Tower, as well as the American Bison as noted on the reverse. — Extremely low serial number of 067 which is inscribed on the reverse. Although it is unknown how many examples were struck, 067 is a low number in numismatics under any context. This simply adds to the rarity and uniqueness of this specific specimen.
RARITY: Unknown: Likely rare (many were likely melted for their silver content; I have never encountered another example)
NGC Census not available.
MEDAL DESCRIPTION:
(Proof Strike, .999 Silver, 38mm, Round, Reeded Edge)
OBVERSE: Otis Colorado Centennial / (Image of Otis Water Tower) / 1887 • 1987
REVERSE: 999+ Fine Silver / (Depiction of a American Bison) / 067 / © / One Troy Ounce
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
(Otis, Colorado):
“Otis was established in 1882 as a construction campsite for workers building the Burlington & Missouri River rail line from Lincoln Nebr to Denver, Colo. According to tradition, the community was named after W. O. Otis, a pioneer settler. The post office opened in 1886 and the town was platted in 1887.” — Credited Source: Dawson, John Frank. Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin. Denver, CO: The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co. p. 38.
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(American Bison):
“The American bison (Bison bison) is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as buffalo (a distinct clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the European bison. Its historical range, by 9000 BC, is described as the great bison belt, a tract of rich grassland that ran from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Atlantic Seaboard (nearly to the Atlantic tidewater in some areas) as far north as New York, south to Georgia and, according to some sources, further south to Florida, with sightings in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750.” — Credited Source: William T. Hornaday, Superintendent of the National Zoological Park (February 10, 2006) [1889]. The Extermination of the American Bison. Smithsonian Institution.