LONDON:
PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,
MILFORD LANE, STRAND, W.C.
PREFACE.
S i n c e the year 1 8 0 2 , when the second edition of Pinkerton’s
“ Medallic History of England to the Revolution ” was published,
no general work has appeared on English Medals.
The want of a more careful and complete treatise on this
important subject has long been felt, and in some measure to
meet this want is the object of the present publication. It
contains descriptions of all medals at present known that
illustrate the history of Great Britain and Ireland to the end of
the reign of George II., whether struck in this country or
abroad, whether relating to public events or private persons,
and whether contemporary or executed at a later date. It is,
in fact, an attempt to provide the English student, though in a
less ambitious form, with materials for the history of his own
country similar to those furnished for the Low Countries by the
works of Van Mieris, "Van Loon, and their continuators.
Each medal is described in detail, the legends being translated
literally, so far as the errors of the engravers, the arbitrary
constructions, and the difficult allusions contained in some of
them, would admit. The metal or metals are stated in which
each medal occurs, and its size is given in inches and tenths.
References are made to works in which the medals are illustrated,
and collections are cited in which the rarer examples are
to be found. Such historical observations as seemed necessary
have been added.
As it was desirable not to increase unduly the bulk and
expense of the work, the illustrations have been limited to the
more important medals that have not hitherto been figured,