MEDAL. 



his consort, decorates some, one of which 

 has her bead, and on the reverse Pietate 

 Insitr?ii,\ Mr. Walpole communicated to 

 Mr. Pinktn ton, from Vertue's manuscripts, 

 an account of a rare and singular medal, 

 made by command of tin's licentious mo- 

 narch, representing- the Duchess of Ports- 

 mouth on the obverse, and Cupid on a 

 wool-pack on the reverse ; besides the 

 above there are the Fa-vente Deo , the Pro 

 talibus ausis ; and the Felicitas Britannia. 

 The same author adds, " The short reign 

 of James II. has several medals. The 

 most remarkable are the Nemo me impune 

 lacesset ,- that with his queen, Fortes Radii 

 sed Benigni , those on the Pretender's 

 birth, Fdicitas Publica. Others have 

 Orbata luce lucidum obacurat ; J\fugnis in- 

 terdum parva nocent ,- Pro glandibus Jlurca 

 poma" 



The Pretender, though unsuccessful in 

 his attempts to regain the throne of his 

 fore-fathers, and an exile to the hour of 

 his death, was still so much of an En- 

 glishman as to require notice in this arti- 

 cle, particularly as his history is a colla- 

 teral branch of that of England : this 

 Prince caused a medal to be struck by 

 the Papal medallist, Hamerani, on the 

 occasion of his intended consort's escape 

 from the arrest procured by the English 

 minister at Vienna, and which took place 

 in the Tyrol, on her way to the Pretender. 

 The lady was represented on the obverse 

 by her bust, with the legend Clementina 

 M. Briton. Fr. & Hib. Regina / and on the 

 reverse she is shewn seated in a chariot, 

 giving the rein to two horses which are 

 drawing it at full speed, the legend For- 

 tunam Causdmque sequor ; and on the 

 exergue, Deceptis Cuslodibus, MDCCXIX. 

 Another medal was struck by him on the 

 birth of his eldest son ; this exhibits the 

 busts of the Prince and Princess, with the 

 legend Jacob. III. R. Clementina R. ; and 

 the reverse has the lady supporting the 

 child on her left arm, which rests on a 

 pillar, an emblem of constancy, the right 

 hand extended points to a globe, present- 

 ing England, Scotland, and Ireland, with 

 the legend Providentia Obstetrix ,- the 

 exergue, Carolo Princ. Vallice. Nat. Die 

 ultima, Jl. M.DCC.XX. 



To return from this digression to the 

 time of James II. That weak and unpo- 

 pular king either caused or permitted 

 malignant medals to be circulated, satiriz- 

 ing Monmouth's rebellion, and exulting 

 in his death ; the legends on those were 

 Parum successit fed sedulo ; superi risere ; 

 Caput inter nubila ; Providentia improvi- 

 dentia, &c. The reign of William III. was 



productive of a series of most uncommon 

 events, each of which made admirable 

 subjects for medals ; indeed his birth was 

 celebrated by the striking of one, repre- 

 senting his mother on the obverse, and 

 himself in childhood on the reverse. Af- 

 ter his accession to the throne of England, 

 he had his own bust and that of Queen 

 Mary, almost universally, placed on the 

 obverses of his medals, particularly in 

 those known by the following legends: 

 the Status par nobile , Alarum pro liber- 

 tate ; J\*ec l*ex est justior ulla , Nisi tu quis 

 tempwit ignes, &c. : others, which have 

 the king's bust alone, are the Jlppamit et 

 dissipavit , the Gid. Nass. in Torbay, 6fc. ,- 

 the Victis ac fugatis Hibernis ; the Im- 

 perium pelugi nobis , the Nunquam impune 

 lacessitus, &c. 



Equally fortunate and prolific in great 

 events was the reign of Anne This 

 Queen, illustrious in virtue, perpetuated 

 the victories achieved by her armies, un- 

 der the incomparable Duke of Marl--' 

 borough, in a regular series of medals ; 

 but here we are compelled to cease. 

 Although the subsequent history of this 

 country furnishes repeated occasions for 

 a rich display of medallions, they have 

 nearly been passed unnoticed in tins par- 

 ticular ; and most of the medals we pos- 

 sess, of modern execution, have been 

 struck by private persons, sometimes to 

 honour the memory of worthy men, but 

 generally to procure present emolument : 

 in the latter class may be included, Das- 

 sier, who engraved and struck a series of 

 all the kings of England, then thirty-six 

 in number, which were executed with 

 great spirit, and are of copper. Dassier 

 was a native of Geneva, and made this 

 addition to English medals about 1740. 



The reader will perceive that we have 

 been principally indebted to Mr. Pinker- 

 ton's excellent essay on medals lor the 

 preceding facts, nor do we hesitate to 

 acknowledge, that we shall be equally so 

 for the following sketch of the history of 

 British coins, except some few particulars 

 towards the close of the article. That 

 gentleman observes, the heptarchic coins 

 were of two descriptions; one, the silver 

 skeata, or penny, and the copper, or 

 billon styca ; the latter was confined to 

 Northumbria, and in the later period of 

 that kingdom the size was diminutive, 

 and the value not more than half a far- 

 thing of our money; it is the silver penny 

 therefore which is to be considered as the 

 general coin of the heptarchy, for neither 

 gold or any other kind of silver was issued 

 for a long time after. The admirers of 



