CNG 96, Lot: 1458. Estimate $500. Sold for $1300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MEXICO, Colonial. Fernando VII. King of Spain, 1808-1833. Æ Proclamation Medal (52mm, 55.97 g, 12h). Commemorating the Cabildo Eclesiástico (Ecclesiastical Council) at Mexico City. By Jose M. Guerrero. Struck 1814. FERDINANDO / OPTIMO REGI / SOLIO RESTITUTO / CAPITULUM / ECCLES • MEXIC • / 1814 • in six lines; all within double border / SUBACTA PERFIDIA • FELICITER IMPERAT •, laureate and draped figure of Ferdinand seated left on a throne within a draped enclosure, he holds a baton with his extended right hand and motions to a figure of Discord with his left; to left, a portion of a column; below right, Discord (as a gorgon) prostrate right, holding a snake with both hands. Grove F-23c. EF, or better, traces of gilding(?) in the recesses and around the legends, few minor marks.

This proclamation medal, with an impressive allegorical scene on the reverse, was issued just after Ferdinand’s captivity in France and subsequent release. Napoleon kept Ferdinand under guard for six years at the Chateau de Valençay. Mexico never did accept Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, as the rightful king of Spain, and continued to strike coins and medals for Ferdinand. Napoleon agreed to acknowledge Ferdinand VII as king of Spain on 11 December 1813.