2016-10-26 Wed

Napoleon had issued a special and unknown gold version of a medal to condemn Britain's action of breaking the 1803 treaty of Amiens. The medal will be up for auction on 1st November, offered by the estate of the Bonaparte family at the London Coin Galleries in cooperation with Fritz Rudolph Kunker in Osnabruck, Germany.

The treaty was signed to bring in peace between the countries but it only resulted in holding out the fight for some time.

The British declared a war on France on 18th May 1803 and a year after that, on 25th May 1802, the treaty was signed after a prolonged period of provocation from Napoleon.

Bronze and silver versions of the medal were known featuring allegorical representations of France and Britain.

The obverse features the leopard, representing England, pulling apart a parchment-scroll with its claws. A French inscription translates to “The Treaty of Amiens broken by England in May of the year 1803” .

The reverse features goddess of victory Victoria, riding a horse, holding a laurel wreath in her right hand, left arm on the horse’s neck, representing France.

The horse refers to Hanover as the French took control of Hanover in June 1803, where Britain’s King George III was prince-elector of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover) in the Holy Roman Empire.

After breaking the Treaty, British took control of all the French and Dutch ships they could capture, and Napoleon imprisoned all British tourists travelling in France and Italy in return.

Napoleon also took revenge on German soil. The field marshal in charge of the Hanover surrendered without fighting and Napoleon had the army dispersed.

The medal was made using metal from the mines of the earlier British-ruled territory.

The 1803 gold medal is in Extremely Fine to Proof condition and has an estimate of £5,000.