Although I don't collect coins, I love the history behind the coin...or in this case, the medal. Here is an interesting Queen Anne medal whose reverse is very symbolic. Any takers? I learned about the symbolism while reading a book about the Duke of Marlborough, the great British general and ancestor of Winston Churchill. Hint: This medal was minted during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) between the Allies of Great Britain and the French Forces under King Louis XIV (the "Sun King"). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Spanish_Succession Darn. Sometimes numismatics "breathes life" into otherwise dry and obscure history. guy
86. BARCELONA RELIEVED. ^ May, 1706. Bust of Anne, I., hair tied in a knot at thetopof thehead,lovelock on the left shoulder, in gown with straps on the shoulder, andmantle. Leg. ANNA . D : G : MAG : BR : FRA : ET . HIB : REG. Below, CROKER. (John Croker.) Same as No. 49. Rev. The city andharbourof Barcelona: above, thesuneclipsed. Leg. BARCELONA . LIB . GALLIS . FVG. (Barcelona relieved, the French put to flight.) Ex. i . MAII . MDCCVI. 1-35. Rapin,iii. 12. VanLoon,V. 22. Thes. Num.582. MB. JR. (two varieties), M. Common. The obverse of this medalpresents thesame varieties as No. 49. The French party determinedto regain possession of Barcelona,andPhiliphimself,withtheassistanceof Marshal de Tesse and30,000 troops,andof theFrenchfleetundertheComtedeToulouse,commenceda vigorous attack,and reduced the place to great extremities. When, however, notice was received of theapproach of theBritishandDutch fleets under Admirals Leake and Byng, and of the arrival of the Earl of Peterborough with reinforcements from Valencia, the Comte de Toulouse hoisted sail and escapedinto Toulon. Thebesiegingarmy, a few days afterwards, also took the alarm, andon the1st of May,whilstthe sun was undera totaleclipse,theybrokeup,leavingbehind them most of their cannon andmortars, withvastquantities of allsorts of ammunitionandprovisions. This medal, having been executed in England, is datedafterthe old style. Medallic illustrations of the history of Great Britain and Ireland to the death of George II (Google eBook) Edward Hawkins, Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, Herbert Appold Grueber Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum, 1885
Thank you for looking and thank you for the information. :thumb: What I found interesting was the symbolism on the reverse. On the reverse of the coin is an eclipse of the sun which occured when the the seige of Barcelona by the French King Louis XIV, "The Sun King," was halted by relieving Allied forces. The very superstitious King Louis and others at that time thought this was symbolic of his losing his control and sway over the European continent. He was correct. I would have missed the significance of the eclipse had I not known the history. Quick question: When would this medal have been minted? At the time of the victory or much later? Thank you, again. guy
Thanks for sharing your wonderful medal. The solar eclipse and the French withdrawl from Barcelona occurred on May 12, 1706, so the medal would likely have been issued soon after the victory, probably within a few weeks. There was great propaganda value in the striking of commorative medals with silver medals (or sometimes gold or bejewelled medals) given by the monarch to senior leaders, military officers, Members of Parliament, et al., and bronze medals struck for somewhat wider distribution. In some cases, multiple varieties of a medal have been issued or re-issued over a longer period of time, and that is when a good numismatic reference book is necessary to distinguish one type from another. As far as I know, there were no re-issues of your medal.
Gracias As it happens, Barcelona is my personal favorite city. It is my favorite city in the world. The architecture is interesting. The people are friendly. The language spoken is easy for me to understand. The weather is warm. The beer is cold. The tapas are warm & cold. It's just a great place to visit IMHO. Now I have learned something interesting about the history of Barcelona. Thanks for the post.
Well, the earliest I have so far found that refers to this medal was a 1722 book by Abel Boyer (The History of the Life and Reign of Queen Anne) which can be downloaded for free on Google books. On page 718 & seq, it describes the 24 normal medals issued in her reign, as well as three allegorical ones. The one you have is described as: And has the illustrations of the medals:
What a wonderful resource. Thank you. I love those old hunks of copper. Interestingly, no copper coinage was minted in Queen Anne's time. The mythical Queen Anne farthing (1714) was minted sometime after her death. I always wondered how those old pieces of copper survived so well. Were they hidden in a bank vault for three hundred years? Great history. guy
According to information from the Victoria & Albert Museum, medals like these minted after 1695 were also sold to the public. The price of a bronze medal from the Royal Mint was 5 shillings (or 25 pence). Even 300 years ago, national mints were in the business of producing and selling items to collectors!
Interesting, but how would a large medal like that survive in mint state for three centuries? Modern uncirculated coins safely ensconced in my drawer look worse. :too-cool-for: guy
