1759 Death of Wolfe Medal. Betts-422. Bronze, 37 mm. MS-64 BN (PCGS). 332.9 grains. Coin turn. An exquisite specimen of a medal that doesnt generally come very nice. Rich deep olive brown with lively lustrous fields tinted blue and violet. Double striking is seen around peripheral design elements. Gossets portrait of General James Wolfe is bold and fully realized, and neither side shows any flaw approaching mentionable significance. While the fall of Quebec was an inarguable turning point in the battle for North America, the death of Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham was devastating to the British cause. As important as Wolfe was, its a wonder this medal is as scarce as it is. We have not offered one since 2007. Ford had two in silver but only one in bronze, a piece described as "Extremely Fine. Rare in this metal. Cleaned."<p><p>This example ranks among the very best we have seen, better than Fords, finer than Adams (Heritage, January 2012, lot 3917), and higher grade than LaRiviere. The handful we have seen privately also failed to surpass this. From the Richard Margolis Collection. Earlier from Almanzars mail bid sale of December 5, 1978, lot 1387.
