Description

George I. 1714-1727. Silver Medal 1725, 44.81 g. Order of the Bath Revived. By J. Croker. Head, laureate. GEORGIVS . D . G . MAG BR . FR . ET . HIB . REX . F . D. Rv. Standing figure of Prince William dressed as Knight of the Bath. SPES . ALTERA. In exergue: ORD . EQVIT . BALN . REST . ET . INSIG . AVCT . MDCCXXV. Plain edge. 46.6 mm. Eimer 501. MI ii 463/75. Brockmann 827. Gutes sehr schön / Good Very Fine. Kratzer und Randfehler / Scratches and edge nicks.

Purchased from Peus, Frankfurt a. M., November 1984, lot 2651.

After the coronation of Charles II, the Order of the Bath fell into neglect till the year 1725, when George I revived it, enacting a new book of Statutes, and augmenting its decorations. Prince William, afterwards Duke of Cumberland, the second son, or the other Hope of the country, then four years of age, was the first Knight of the revived Order. The name derives from an elaborate medieval ceremony for preparing a candidate to receive his knighthood, of which ritual bathing (as a symbol of purification) was an element.