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Auction: 20106 - The Hardcastle Collection: Numismatic 'Pledges' to a Yorkshire Pawnbroker' e-Auction
Lot: 279

The Hardcastle Collection. James II, Coronation, 1685, silver medal, by J Roettier, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, rev. hand placing Heavenly crown on a cushion bearing a laurel, 34mm, 14.81g (Woolf 8; MI I, 605/5; Eimer 273), very fine with a lovely toning, tiny test cut on rim, from a mount

The official coronation medal distributed among the spectators at the coronation. The ceremony took place at Westminster on St George's day, 23 April 1685, and was remarkable for the quality and variety of music performed at the service in the Chapel Royal. The choir, accompanied by an orchestra of strings, sackbut, cornett and organ, performed works by William Child, John Blow, William Turner, Henry Lewes, Henry Purcell, and Thomas Tallis. The next day a firework display was arranged in front of the palace at Whitehall. The Thames was crowded with boats and crowds gathered on the banks. The fireworks were assembled on a pontoon, but unfortunately the lighting of the first firework ignited the entire assemblage and a mighty explosion caused mayhem among the onlookers, many of whom jumped into the river to escape the conflagration.

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Estimate

Starting price
£70