Adventures of the Blackgang

Counter commemorating internal troubles in England

Obverse: Head of Louis XIV (right)

Legend: LUDOVICUS . MAGNUS REX

Reverse: Neptune, (left) his trident raised in his right hand, seated in his two-horsed sea car.

Legend: BELLO PACIQUE; (In war and peace.)

Exergue: MARINE 1712; (The reference is to the King gaining a respite during the war)

made: 1712, France, copper, 28 mm
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Medal commemorating the sinking of the SS Lusitania, 1915

Obverse: A crowd of men, one reading a newspaper, inscribed (left) standing clamouring for tickets from Death at the window of a ticket office. Legend: ‘GESCHÄFT ÜBER ALLES.’ (Business before everything).

On office: (above) 'CUNARD LINIE’, 'FARHKARTEN AUSGABE’; (side) 'CUNARD.’ Reverse: The SS Lusitania sinking by the stern, an aeroplane and armoured cars on forecastle, inscription below.

Legend: 'KEINE BANNWARE.’ (No contraband.) Exergue: 'DER GROSSDAMPFER = LUSITANIA = DURCH EIN DEUTSCHES TAUCHBOOT VERSENKT 5 MAI 1915.’ (The liner Lusitania sunk by a German submarine. An example of the first issue wrongly dated 5 May, subsequently withdrawn.) Unofficial.

Artist/Maker: Karl Goetz; Germany, bronze: 5 x 57 mm
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
*click image to see obverse

Medal commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar

Medal commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Obverse: Short bust of Admiral Viscount Nelson in a pigtail and uniform (left). Legend: ‘ADMIRAL LORD NELSON’; 'ENGLAND EVER SALUTES HIS MEMORY’. Inscription: '1758’ (left); '1805’ (right). Reverse: Half-length nude figure of Neptune rising out of the sea, holding a trident in his left and a wreath in his right hand, raised; starboard broadside of HMS 'Victory’ in distance (left). Legend: 'TRAFALGAR 1805-1955’.

-National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London