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British, General Monck, c.1660, an oval cast and chased silver-gilt medal, unsigned, bust left, george d albemarle around, rev. armorial shield of Monk surmounted by ducal coronet, wreathed border both sides, 37 x 29mm, 9.34g (cf. MI 466/65; cf. E 218). Very fine and extremely rare; with integral triple-loop for suspension, and carefully pierced several times below the portrait to facilitate sewing to a supporter’s coat (£1,500-2,000)

George Monck, Duke of Albemarle (1608-70), commanded the Royalist troops in Ireland in the early years of the Civil War, but was captured in 1644 and imprisoned. After his release in 1646 he served the Cromwellian cause by subduing Scotland and fighting at sea against the Dutch. Following the fall of Richard Cromwell, Monck broke with the new military government established in 1659 and led his troops south from the Scottish border early in 1660 to restore a free Parliament and to negotiate the return of Charles II from France. For these services Monck was rewarded with the title Duke of Albemarle and was made a Knight of the Garter. It seems highly probable that the present piece, which has a companion in the example formerly in the Bodley Library, Oxford and now in the Ashmolean Museum, was worn by a senior officer in Monck’s army.

See Colour Plate II