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Auction: 22007 - British and World Coins and Commemorative Medals Autumn Auction
Lot: 797

The Old Pretender (James III), 'The Only Safeguard', AR Medal, 1721, by O. Hamerani, VNICA SALVS, draped and armoured bust right, rev. QVID • GRAVIVS • CAPTA, Hanoverian horse tramples on the English lion and Scottish unicorn, beyond a panoramic cityscape of London, including St Pauls and London Bridge, MDCCXXI in exergue, plain edge, 50mm, 49.74g (Eimer 493; MI ii 454/63; Woolf 40; Harding 58 this medal), the obverse with a couple of faint contact marks, nevertheless the surfaces proof-like and with cabinet toning, most notably with striking areas of blue and ochre toning, extremely fine

The obverse of this medal has the legend 'The only Safeguard'. This could also be translated as 'The only Security' - a double-entendre which would have been well understood in 18th Century London. The reverse shows the Hanoverian horse trampling the lion and the unicorn whilst Britannia weeps and the impoverished inhabitants of London stream across London Bridge and out of the city. It is probable that this medal is more than a simplistic attempt to connect the Hanoverian succession with the stock market crash. Given that so many people were alarmed at the state of the nation, it is probable that the medal was meant to be a more general indictment of the moral climate under the Hanoverians.

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Sold for
£1,900

Starting price
£500