The Dr Jerome J. Platt Collection of 17th-Century Medals

Sir Thomas Fairfax, 1645, a contemporary cast and chased silver military reward, unsigned [probably by T. Simon], draped and armoured bust left, no legend, rev. post hac meliora, mervisti across field, date below, 24 x 20mm, 2.75g (Platt II, pp.98-100, type B [B7, this item]; Nathanson p.13; MI I, 318/151; E 146b). About very fine and very rare; with loop and ring for suspension £800-£1,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Dr Jerome J. Platt Collection of 17th-Century Medals.

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Collection

A Collection of British Historical Medals, Part I, Glendining Auction, 16 March 1989, lot 71; Spink Auction 120, 9-10 July 1997, lot 340

These medals were probably the personal gift of Fairfax to those officers and other ranks who distinguished themselves at the battle of Marston Moor (2 July 1644), to which event, as well as to his other successes, the inscription on the reverse relates. It was attributed to Simon by Vertue, along with numerous others that were not. But this portraiture is completely Simon’s style and work, surely a private commission between him and Fairfax, as opposed to an official issue.