Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 2169. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

STUART (Restored). Anne. 1702-1714. AR Medal (37mm, 18.11 gm, 12h). Battle of Vigo Bay. Dated 1702. John Croker, sculptor. ANNA DEI GRA MAG BR FRA ET HIB REGINA, crowned and draped bust left / CAPTA ET INCENSA GAL ET HISP CLASSE AD VIGVM XII OCT MDCCII, Spanish and French fleet under assault by the English and Dutch. Hawkins II p. 236, 18; Bernardo 474. Good VF, wonderful iridescent toning. ($300)

The War of the Spanish Succession, sparked by Louis XIV of France in his attempts to expand his hegemony, flared into a continent-wide conflict, with France, Spain and Bavaria opposed by a coalition centered around England, Holland and Austria. One aim of the Allies was to deprive Spain of the wealth derived from its American colonies. When Admiral Sir George Rooke, commander of the combined fleet, learned the 1702 treasure had arrived at Vigo Bay in Spain, he resolved to seize it. His force of fifty ships besieged the harbor, destroying the French fleet guarding the convoy, sinking most of the ships and capturing cargo worth some 2 million pounds at the time. A special issue of gold and silver coins was struck from the captured plate and a number of medals honored the great victory.