GREAT BRITAIN. Birthday of John Philip Kemble. 1757-1823. Æ medal. 66.78 gm. 52 mm. By John Hancock. 1798. Draped bust of John Kemble, head left; IOHANNUS PHILLIPUS KEMBLE; engraver's name and firm below; I G HANCOCK SCULPR AD VIVUM / An open wreath with an inscription inside; TRAGOEDDUS ANGLICUS AET . XLI MDCCXCVIII in four lines ("The English tragedian aged 41, 1798"). BHM 446. Eimer 888. Near Extremely Fine.

Kemble was a prominent actor playing over 120 characters, many of them Shakespearian. When the theater at Covent Garden burned down in 1808 he was the manager. After it was rebuilt, he raised the admission price resulting in demonstrations from unhappy patrons.