Sale: Nomos 5, Lot: 80. Estimate CHF6000.  Closing Date: Monday, 24 October 2011.  Sold For CHF4800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

France. Louis XIV. 1643-1715. Medal (Silver, 69mm, 158.90 g 12), on the bombardment of Genoa by Abraham de Quesnay’s fleet, 18-22 May 1684. By Michel Molart and F. Cheron, 1684. LVDOVICVS.MAGNVS.REX.CHRISTIANISSIMVS. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Louis XIV to left; on truncation, MOLAART.F. Rev. VIBRATA IN SVPERBOS FVLMINA // .GENVA.EMENDATA. / ANN.M.DC.LXXXIV. / .F.CHERON.F. Jupiter, semi-draped, standing left and brandishing his thunderbolt; behind him to left, Genoa bombarded by a few French ships; to right, the greater part of the French fleet. Forrer IV, p. 119. A splendid, toned, and very rare medal. Tiny flan crack and a number of hair line scratches, otherwise, extremely fine.

Ex Peus 389, 1 November 2006, 2039.

The bombardment of Genoa formed part of the so-called War of the Reunions (1683-1684), and was a reprisal for the city’s support of the Spanish Empire, and especially because Genoa served as the port for the Spanish Duchy of Milan. After France’s capture of some Spanish possessions in the Netherlands, Spain sent reinforcements via Genoa. As a result, Admiral Duquesne, without a declaration of war, brought in the French fleet and bombarded the city with some 13,000 cannonballs as a punishment (Genoa remained under French influence from then on). Admiral Duquesne was a distinguished French sailor (c. 1610-1688) who was responsible for a number of signal French victories. He was made a Marquis in 1681. Shortly after Genoa he retired due to ill health (despite being a Protestant he was exempted from the Edict of Nantes of 1685, though he must have seen it coming and it was surely another reason for his retirement).