Description

Anne, 1702-1714. Satirical Silver Medal 1708, 30.70 g. Attempted Invasion of Scotland. By M. Brunner. Bust, laureate and draped. ANNA . D : G : MAG : BR : FRA : ET . HIB : REGINA. Rv. An ass about to feed upon a thistle is driven away by a female figure imposing a rose. INIMICVS ODOR APPETITVFORTIOR. In exergue: GALLI SCOTIAM AGGRESSVRI SOLO ANGLORVM ASPECTV FVGANTVR . 1708. Edge: IN FELIX OPERAM PERDAS VT SI QVIS ASELLVM IN CAMPVM DOCEAT . HOR : SERM : L . I. 42.9 mm. Eimer 429. MI ii 321/146. van Loon V, 100,4. Saunders/Vanhoudt 1708-14. Vorzüglich / Extremely Fine. Feine Patina / Nicely toned.

From the auction Spink Coin Auctions 36, London, May 1986, lot 1118.

The Attempted Invasion of Scotland in 1708 was a failed Jacobite effort to restore the exiled James Francis Edward Stuart (the "Old Pretender") to the throne of Great Britain. This invasion was part of the broader Jacobite risings, which sought to overturn the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and restore the Catholic Stuart dynasty. The attempt was closely tied to the geopolitical context of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 - 1714), during which France supported the Jacobite cause as a way to destabilize Britain.

The old naturalists were of opinion that an ass was fond of thistles, but discomposed at the smell of a rose. England's rose, therefore, drives away the French ass from the Scottish thistle. The inscription on the edge implies that it is as difficult to instruct a Frenchman to invade England as to train an ass to run in a race.