Something I never imagined I'd get

JeandAcre · June 4

Here's another of those inextinguishably fun, c. earlier-mid 18th c. AE medals, which only impressionistically evoke Conder halfpence of half a century later.

Admiral Vernon, medal ('Medalet?' I still wonder about the semantics, since this, like other ones I know of, clearly --i. e., less so than you'd expect, in the operant context-- circulated). Celebrating his capture of Porto Bello, in modern Panama. Without the obsessive periods after each and every word, or the only more mysterious retrograde 'N's, here are the legends.

Obv. (Exergue:) THE HON. EDWARD VERNON ESq.

(From 7 o'clock:) HATH ONCE MORE REVIV.D THE BRITISH GLORY.

Rev. Adm. Vernon's ships in the bay of Portobello; the latter flanked by two artillery forts. Another on an island in the bay, sheltering both the Spanish ships in the harbor, and the city itself.

(Also from 7 o'clock:) BYTHE TAKING OF PORTO BELLO WITH SIX SHIPS ONLY NOV THE 22 1739

...A far better, earlier version of this medal is in an overview I grew up with. (Turberville, English Men and Manners in the 18th Century. Oxford UP: Galaxy. 1926 /1997 --vis. my extant copy. P. 494.)

CPK · June 4

Wow, that is a cool piece! Never saw anything like it before.

Al Kowsky · June 4

Wonderful narrative composition on this token 😄. Why the peculiar shape of the letter N 🤔?

JeandAcre · June 4

Many thanks for the comments, @CPK and @Al Kowsky. I have No Idea why they insisted on making the Ns that way. The earlier variant in the Turberville book is, if anything, better engraved, but it has them too. ...I haven't begun to do any serious research; no idea what's in print, or elsewhere. But yes, to your point, for these and Conders, what you can already see goes a pretty good distance toward speaking for itself. ...Yeah, between the two, maybe one of the biggest draws is their loquacity!