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Buenos Aires, Argentina (struck in Santiago, Chile), large silver medal, 1807, defense of Buenos Air

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Exonumia - Medals Start Price:4,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Buenos Aires, Argentina (struck in Santiago, Chile), large silver medal, 1807, defense of Buenos Air
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Buenos Aires, Argentina (struck in Santiago, Chile), large silver medal, 1807, defense of Buenos Aires during English invasions, rare. Burzio-1621; Cunietti-p. 36-37. 63.73 grams. Large medal commemorating the defense of Buenos Aires against British troops in two separate invasions, one in 1806 and the other in 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars. Obverse features an Argentinean man wearing a long cape being seized by an English soldier whose sword is unsheathed, legend reading DA. MERCEDES * GONZALEZ * Y * LAVALLE * LOS * YLUSTRES * DEFENSORES*** around rim, PUDISTE SORPREHENDERME above figures, and BUENOSAIRES SORPRE / HENDIDA JUNIO / 07D1806 in exergue; reverse with Argentinean soldier, sword out, threatening an English soldier, legend reading DE * SE * REY * Y * DE * SU * PATRIA * LINIERS * CONCHA * Y * LACALA*** with PERO NO VENCERME above figures, BUENOSAIRES DEFEN / DIDA.DIA 5 D JULIO / DE 1807. in exergue. The medal was designed by Ignacio Fernandez Arrabal in Santiago, Chile, using funds raised by Maria Mercedes Gonzalez y Lavalle, mother of Argentinean general Juan Galo de Lavalle. She sold her personal jewelry in order to finance the medal commission. Cunietti notes that the medal is considered one of the most beautiful Argentinean medals crafted. Between 1823 and 1832, British diplomat Woodbine Parish, Consul General of the British consulate in Buenos Aires, purchased the majority of medals and had them melted down. AU with old cabinet toning, fields quite lustrous, graffiti in field on 1807-dated side between figures, very rare with only a few known today.