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A few British and Austrian NEWPS Tonight

Well I may have struck out in the UK auctions today but did get 3 in the HA weekly that I thought were very reasonable.

1795 C Austria Franz II 12 Kreuzer in MS62, some of the minors are very tough in uncirculated, this is the only unc graded at NGC. The typical Austrian obverse but the reverse is quite sparse and elegant I think.

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1798 Great Britain Victories gilt bronze medal in MS62, for some reason these don't seem to come up all that often. The reverse legend translates as "Victories at sea, unvanquished on land". The main battle I discuss occurred during the Napoleonic wars which had begun in 1797 with the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, Lord Nelson (then Commodore sailing aboard the 74 gun Captain) was there of course and the British fleet of 14 Ships of the line managed to defeat a Spanish fleet of 28 ships of the line.

In August 1798, after sailing about the Med in search of the French fleet, Sir Horatio Nelson caught them at Akoubir Bay and soundly defeated them (Called the Battle of the Nile). The French fleet had delivered Napoleans troops to Egypt and then moved off and anchored with a fleet of 13 ships of the line and 4 frigates, including the mighty L'Orient with 120 guns. Nelsons fleet included 13 (74 gun) ships of the line and one 50 gun ship. Nelson completely decimated the French fleet, L'Orient exploded killing all but 70 of her crew, and causing a short lull in the battle while other vessels moved away and doused fires on their own decks and rigging caused by the explosion. The battle concluded with 12 of the 17 French vessels sunk or captured. The Battle of the Nile is still considered one of the most important sea battles in history.

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1820 Great Britain Death of Geo. III bronze medal in PF 65.

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