Description

George I. 1714-1727. Silver Medal 1719, 45.74 g. Marriage of James (III) to Princess Clementina. By O. Hamerani. Bust, armoured and draped. IACOBVS . III . D . G . M . B . F . ET . H . REX. Rv. Bust draped. CLEMENTINA . MAGNAE . BRITANNIAE . ET . C . REG. Plain edge. 48.3 mm. Eimer 485. MI ii 446/52. Hutten-Czapski 7778. Gutes vorzüglich / About Uncirculated. Herrliche Patina / Most attractively toned.

Purchased from Coincraft, London, September 1997, lot RC1077.

Maria Clementina Sobieska (18 July 1702 - 18 January 1735) was a titular queen of England, Scotland and Ireland by marriage to James Francis Edward Stuart, a Jacobite claimant to the British throne. She was also the granddaughter of the Polish king John III Sobieski. She was married in Bologna by proxy to James for safety from further intrusions, who was in Spain at that time.

This medal was struck at about the time of the marriage. The proceedings of the Stuart family and their partisans were frequently secret and mysterious. The letters "et. c." in the legend on the reverse were consequently supposed to have some mysterious meaning, and various interpretations were proposed of these letters. The common &c. ("et cetera") was too obvious and simple a solution for those who were desirous of discovering some latent signification.