Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 483 6 Jan 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
temp. HANOVER. Edward Vernon. 1684-1757. Æ Medal (40mm, 16.32 g, 5h). Capture of Portobello. Dated 22 November 1739. ADMIRAL VERNON TOOK PORTO BELLO, half-length bust of Vernon facing sightly left, holding staff / WITH SIX SHIPS ONLY, view of the harbor at Portobelo, with six ships; NOV 22 1739 in exergue. Betts –; Adams-Chao PBv 13-K; MI 530/196. Attractive brown surfaces. Good VF.
A pivotal naval base for Spanish forces in the new world, Porto Bello (now styled Portobelo in the Colón Province of Panama) allowed for persistent harassment of British ships by their Spanish counterparts throughout the Caribbean. In 1739, British vice admiral Edward Vernon boasted that he could take the port with a fleet of just six ships and, in November of that year, did just that-a feat which garnered him tremendous popular acclaim and an issuance of numerous medals (such as the present piece) in his honor. This decisive naval engagement was a part of the War of Jenkins' Ear, itself a subset of the War of the Austrian Succession.
A pivotal naval base for Spanish forces in the new world, Porto Bello (now styled Portobelo in the Colón Province of Panama) allowed for persistent harassment of British ships by their Spanish counterparts throughout the Caribbean. In 1739, British vice admiral Edward Vernon boasted that he could take the port with a fleet of just six ships and, in November of that year, did just that-a feat which garnered him tremendous popular acclaim and an issuance of numerous medals (such as the present piece) in his honor. This decisive naval engagement was a part of the War of Jenkins' Ear, itself a subset of the War of the Austrian Succession.