U.S.A., Captain William Bainbridge in the Naval Battle of the USS Constitution vs. HMS Java, 29 December, 1812, a silver medal by M. Fürst, gulielmus bainbridge patria victisque laudatus, uniformed bust of Capt. Bainbridge right, rev. pugnando, USS Constitution at right with full masts and rigging, to left, HMS Java completely dismasted and amid wreckage, inter const nav ameri et jav nav angl die xxix decem mdcccxii in exergue, 65 mm, 124.30g (Julian NA.4; Loubat 28; Neuzil 24). Fields hairlined and with considerable brightness, extremely fine; excessively rare in silver, with only one other specimen known [Graded NGC AU Details, Cleaned] £10,000-£12,000

J.J. Ford Collection (Part V), Stack’s Auction, New York, 12 October 2004, lot 167 (from Eric Vaule December 8, 1966) achieving a hammer price of $22,000

On December 29, 1812, while cruising some thirty miles off the coast of Brazil, USS Constitution's masthead lookout sighted two ships on the horizon. Constitution, under the command of Commodore William Bainbridge, stood toward them, and the larger of the two, HMS Java, tacked toward the Americans. At first the British frigate had the better of the encounter, smashing the Constitution’s wheel, the shot embedding a shard of copper shrapnel in Bainbridge’s thigh. However, the Americans regained control of the vessel by steering directly from the tiller and over the course of the next hour, destroyed all of the Java’s masts and rigging. After such a fierce engagement, HMS Java was devastated and her Captain mortally wounded. Of the ships broken remains Bainbridge writes ‘…every thing was blown up, except the officers baggage when we set her on fire on the 1st of January 1813 at 3 P.M. Nautical Time’. The defeat of Java, the second frigate lost to Constitution in six months, motivated a prudent change of tactics from the Royal Navy. No longer would their frigates be allowed to engage American frigates alone - from now on, only British ships-of-the-line or squadrons were permitted to come close enough to these ships to attack.