MEDAL. 



counters, each proceeding from a variety 

 of causes occurring in the Roman domi- 

 nions. The contorniatii, another kind, 

 are so termed from the hollow circle 

 round them ; those are large as medal- 

 lions, thin, and of inferior execution, and 

 have afforded much latitude for conjec- 

 ture as to the purpose for which they 

 were intended. 



We are under the necessity of dwell- 

 ing on the foreign coins and medals of 

 antiquity to a considerable extent, that 

 the subject might be fully understood, as 

 we are wholly indebted to the ancients 

 for the invention of money, and even for 

 our designs in many instances. It ap- 

 peals, from the account of Britain writ- 

 ten by Caesar, that the inhabitants at that 

 period h td brass and iron money, the use 

 and coinage of which was probably de- 

 rived from our Gallic neighbours. Cuno- 

 belin, to whom many ancient coins found 

 in England have been ascribed, was edu- 

 cated in the court of Augustus, and King 

 x -of the Trinobantes : those are supposed 

 to be the only extant, purely English, of 

 which there is an admirable collection in 

 our national museum; the legends of them 

 are generally cvxo, and TASCIA, and CATCV ; 

 the first seems to apply to Cunobelin, the 

 second has never been explained, and the 

 third ma)' be Camudolanum ; the devices 

 are a horse, an ear of wheat, and a bust, 

 accompanied by the abbreviation Cuno, 

 on one side, with a variety of emblems on 

 the other, and Camu. 



English medals, intended entirely as 

 such, were never struck in the ancient 

 periods of our history, and the first known 

 to have been made by order of an Eng- 

 lishman, and stamped on brass, most pro- 

 bably in Italy, was one found in Knares- 

 borough forest, in the seventeenth centu- 

 ry, which bears a bust \vith the legend 



10. KENDAL RHODI TVRCVPELLE1UVS. 



MCCCCLXXX. on the obverse, and on the 

 reverse his family arms, and TEMPO RE o- 

 simoxis TVRCORVM. MCCCCLXXX. It is sin- 

 gular, that the vast variety of important 

 events which have occurred in England, 

 should have passed away without sug- 

 gesting this method of perpetuating their 

 remembrance, and that an example should 

 have been set to ourmonarchs by a knight 

 of Rhodes, who was more affected by the 

 raising of the siege of that island by the 

 Turks, than Edward III. was by his deeds 

 in France. Henry VIII., one of the least 

 worthy of the kings of England, caused a 

 rnedal to be struck in 1545, which is of 

 considerable diameter, and of gold ; the 

 legends of this second British medal are 

 three in number, and are inserted one 



within the other on the obverse, inclos- 

 ing his head and face in front ; the re- 

 verse has two inscriptions, in the Hebrew 

 and Greek languages, which signify his 

 being the defender of the faith, head of 

 the church. &c. The first coronation me- 

 dal was that made by order of Edward 

 VI., the son and successor of Henry, 

 whose medal just described served in 

 every respect for a model. Very little 

 can be said in commendation of the exe- 

 cution of these pieces ; neither are those 

 of Elizabeth much better, with the ex- 

 ception of one or two. Though earlier 

 in point- of time, Philip and Mary were 

 more fortunate in the selection of their 

 artists, particularly Trozzo, who did two 

 in silver for those monarchs, of high re- 

 lief. Richard Shelly, Prior of the order 

 of St. John of Jerusalem, in England, one 

 of the last who presided at Clerkenwell, 

 caused one to be struck in the reign last 

 mentioned, which deserves praise. 



Charles I. a good judge of the arts, ex- 

 ceeded his father, James I. in the excel- 

 lence of his medals ; that dated 1636, re- 

 presenting the King and Henrietta Ma- 

 ria, is finely executed, particularly the 

 heads. " The reverse," observes Mr. 

 Pinkerton, " represents Justice and Peace 

 kissing, awkwardly enough." " The tout 

 ensemble of the piece, however, is bad, 

 and quite unlike the antique, the stand- 

 ard of perfection in this way, owing to 

 the field of the medal not being above a 

 line thick, while the relievos are a full 

 half inch in thickness : whereas, in the 

 best and boldest ancient medallions, the 

 edge of the piece is two or three lines 

 thick, where the relief is three or four. 

 A hollowness is, indeed, given in the an- 

 cient to the inner field around the relief, 

 both to give more elevation and boldness, 

 and that the edge may something protect 

 the subjects of the field." The medals 

 of Charles would, without doubt, have 

 exceeded all others made by his prede- 

 cessors, in a very great proportion, had 

 his politics been more successful : still 

 they deserve approbation ; though Simon, 

 employed by the Commonwealth and 

 Cromwell, soon after his death, surpassed 

 them. Had this celebrated artist receiv- 

 ed the patronage of the dethroned mo- 

 narch, in a state of peace, the correctness 

 of his judgment and experience must 

 have produced most superb pieces, which 

 would probably have rivalled those of the 

 Greeks when in the zenith of their fame. 



Charles II. had several good medals, 

 particularly the three struck on his leav- 

 ing Holland, at the Restoration, and at 

 his Coronation. Catherine of Portugal, 



