102390 | GREAT BRITAIN. Sir Robert Walpole bronze Medal.

102390  |  GREAT BRITAIN. Sir Robert Walpole bronze Medal. Issued 1741. Commemorating Britain's first Prime Minister (49mm, 47.42 g, 12h). By L. Natter.

 

ROBERTUS WALPOLE ORD PERISCELIDIS EQVES, draped bust right / REGIT DICTIS ANIMOS (He governs minds by eloquence, –adapted from Virgil's Aeneid), facing statue of M. Tullius Cicero. Edge: A few light marks, otherwise plain.

 

MI 562/193; Eimer 562. Gem Mint State. Glossy brown surfaces, with great relief on the obverse. A very rare portrait medal for Britain's first prime minister, this example is undoubtedly one of, if not the, finest known. A bit more of a flattering depiction than his portrayal on an Admiral Vernon type, in which the devil is leading him into the maw of Hell.

 

A master politician who helped guide Parliament and Great Britain during the early 18th century, Sir Robert Walpole served as the first British Prime Minister. English historian H. T. Dickinson, in the Readers' Guide to British History, sums up Walpole as "...one of the greatest politicians in British history. He played a significant role in sustaining the Whig party, safeguarding the Hanoverian succession, and defending the principles of the Glorious Revolution. He established stable political supremacy for the Whig party and taught succeeding ministers how best to establish an effective working relationship between Crown and Parliament." Walpole also has the distinction of being the longest-serving PM in British history, a feat that stands in contrast to the three PMs in 2022 and, most notably, the extremely brief term of 49 days by Liz Truss.

 

Upload: 15 May 2023.

 

Sorry, this item is no longer available.