1779 Admiral Keppel Vindicated Medal. Betts-564. Pinchbeck, 34 mm. MS-61 (PCGS). 268.0 grains. Dark olive brown with vestiges of the golden mint color remaining in the protected areas, particularly around the reverse periphery. Very sharp and appealing, no significant flaws, just a natural pit or depression off Keppels shoulder in the right obverse field. After a politically-motivated inquiry and court martial related to actions against the French fleet off Ushant the previous year, Admiral Augustus Keppel was found not guilty on February 11, 1779, the date in the reverse exergue. Keppel went on to a national celebration, including several varieties of honorific medals. Sir Hugh Palliser, who accused Keppel, had his house burned down by an angry mob. From the Richard Margolis Collection. Earlier from A.H. Baldwin & Sons, London, July 1971; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XIV, May 2006, lot 417.
