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Keystone Auction 7 – The J. Eric Engstrom Collection of Admiral Nelson Medals

Lot nuber 21

Battle of Trafalgar. Æ Medal in original metal shell case (48mm, 46.27 g, 12h). Soho (Birmingham) mint. By C.H. Küchler. Dated 21 October 1805.


Keystone Auction 7 – The J. Eric Engstrom Collection of Admiral Nelson Medals
Lot: 21.
 Estimated: $ 750

Admiral Nelson Medals, Bronze

Sold For $ 5 500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Go to Live

Battle of Trafalgar. Æ Medal in original metal shell case (48mm, 46.27 g, 12h). Soho (Birmingham) mint. By C.H. Küchler. Dated 21 October 1805. HORATIO VISCOUNT NELSON . K · B · DUKE OF BRONTE · &, uniformed bust left / ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY, view of the battle; in exergue, TRAFALGAR/ OCTR 21 1805. Edge: blank. Hardy 40; BHM 584; Eimer 960. Warm brown surfaces with hints of purple iridescence. Superb EF. An interesting variety lacking the edge inscription. In original mint-issue metal shell case.

From the J. Eric Engstrom Collection. Ex Kurt Krueger (14 August 1982), lot 2295.

The Battle of Trafalgar took place on October 21, 1805 off the coast of Spain between twenty-seven ships of the line under the command of Horatio Nelson and thirty-five Franco-Spanish ships of the line under the command of Pierre Villeneuve. The Franco-Spanish fleet had hoped to make it to the French port of Brest to rendezvous with another French fleet there and then take control of the seas long enough for Napoleon to land a French army in Great Britain. Nelson’s fleet was not far behind and after a chase he was able to engage with the Franco-Spanish fleet. His tactics placed the first few ships of the British fleet, including his flagship the HMS Victory, directly in the line of fire of the enemy fleet. While these ships sustained heavy damage, the formation allowed the remainder of the British fleet to attain excellent position and proceed to dismantle the Franco-Spanish fleet. During the heavy fighting, Nelson was pierced by a musket ball and, after brief conversations with his officers, he died on ship. The French admiral Villeneuve was captured with his flagship while the Spanish admiral Gravina managed to escape with a third of the allied fleet before dying of his wounds sustained in the battle five months later. Overall, the Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-one ships of the line captured and one destroyed, breaking any hope of attaining naval superiority over the British fleet. While Nelson’s death was mourned by thousands, his victory at Trafalgar effectively ended the French naval threat for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars.

Shortly after the Battle of Trafalgar, famed British industrialist Matthew Boulton publicly declared that he would prepare a medal to be issued to veterans of the engagement, garnering him much praise. The actual execution of the medal, however, would prove to be more challenging. The first obverse die, depicting a left facing bust of the uniformed Nelson, was based on a drawing done by Sir William Beechey, who had done a portrait of Nelson in 1801. This design was rejected by the Nelson family. A second die, based off of a miniature lent from Lady Hamilton, the late admiral’s mistress, was also found to be unsatisfactory. Ultimately, the Lady provided a wax bust, which Küchler evidently had much greater success in working from, and the third attempt at an obverse die was accepted.

Closing Date and Time: 6 July 2022 at 10:06:40 ET.



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