Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 2170. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $1000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

STUART (Restored). Anne. 1702-1714. AR Medal (41mm, 25.97 gm, 12h). Capture of Gibraltar. Dated 1704. Georg Hautsch, sculptor. ANNA D G MAG BR FR ET HIB REGINA, diademed and draped bust left / DIVES TRIVMPHIS ANGLIA, FRETO GADITAN OCCVPAT CLASSE GALL FVGATA, English fleet assailing Gibraltar; below, Britannia reclining by a tree hung with shields commemorating other victories on the continent, she holds anchor and sword, and is offered a naval crown by a Nereid. Lengthy Biblical quote on edge. Hawkins II p. 270, 71. EF, wonderful iridescent toning. ($500)

Admiral Rooke spent much of the campaign season of 1704 in the Mediterranean, hoping to confront the French fleet. Failing to make a decisive encounter, he ordered Byng to seize the fortress of Gibraltar at the entrance of the Mediterranean. This was accomplished in July 1704, although the Spanish kept up an intense siege until March of the following year. Gibraltar remains a British possession to this day.