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

The Trial and Acquittal of John Lilburne, London, 1649, an oval struck silver-gilt medal, unsigned [by D. Ramage after T. Simon], draped bust left, iohn lilborne, rev. october 26 1649, family arms in shield, 25 x 22mm, 5.24g (Platt II, p.202, type B; MI I, 386/4; E 178). Some light scratches above shield, very fine and very rare £1,200-£1,500

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

SNC March 1979 (3100); ‘Papillon’ Collection [not included in sale]; C. Foley Collection, Woolley & Wallis Auction (Salisbury), 16 October 2014, lot 354 [from CNG July 2005]

These medals were attributed to Simon by Vertue, and the portraiture (bust punch) is certainly Simon’s work. Hawkins was sceptical, however, and rightly so. Later studies show that these medals were almost certainly the first major work of David Ramage (cf. DNW 160, 411), incorporating as they do punches for symbols also used on Ramage’s trade tokens. This would have been a private commission, probably sponsored by Lilburne himself.