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Auction: 11011 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 144

General Coote´s Medal for the Battle of Minden, 1759, 57mm x 43mm, silver-gilt, the obverse inscribed ´The Very Honourable Order of the Old Deserving Soldier´ below a portrait of Colonel Sir Eyre Coote, K.B., flags of the 37th Foot either side; the reverse showing the six British Infantry Regiments and the Royal Artillery lined up at the Battle of Minden, 1.8.1759, the exergue inscribed ´Exigui numero sed bello vivida virtus´ (Small in number, but a brave band to wage war), with ring suspension, good very fine, extremely rare Estimate £ 1,400-1,800 The Battle of Minden was fought on the 1st August 1759 during the Seven Years War, and resulted in victory for the Anglo-German force commanded by Field Marshal Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick against the French army. British Regiments present were the Royal Artillery, the 12th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 37th, and 51st Regiments of Foot. Allied losses were approximately 2,800 killed or wounded; French losses approximately 10,000, including the Colonel of the Grenadiers de France the Marquis de La Fayette (and the father of the future American General). As a result of the victory the Duke of Brunswick was elected a Knight of the Garter on the 16th August, and invested in his camp on the 17th October, in full view of the defeated French army; the Regiments involved received the Battle Honour ´Minden´, and wear ´Minden´ roses in their caps every year on the anniversary of the battle to this day. No official medal was granted for either the Battle of Minden, or for the Seven Years War in general, but a number of Regimental and unoffical medals were produced, of which the medal by Thomas Pingo is the most well-known (MI.ii, 702, 433). The Medal in this lot, The Very Honourable Order of the Old Deserving Soldier, was awarded by General Sir Eyre Coote, K.B., Commanding Officer of the 37th Foot 1773-83, to those members of the Regiment still serving who had particularly distinguished themselves at the Battle of Minden, in both silver and silver-gilt.

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£2,200