PREVIEW: COINS AND HISTORICAL MEDALS 1-2 FEBRUARY

Competing pressures for land use are nothing new. Today, new homes and rewilding projects must vie with agriculture as demand for food security increases.

By the mid 18th century, the demand for timber as fuel had led to generations of deforestation, to the point that wood for naval ships had to be imported from the Baltic states.

This risked the defence of the realm at a time when revolution and then imperial ambition were rising across the Channel; an effective blockade of British ports by the French would have left the nation exposed.

Somehow, the government had to encourage landowners to plant trees on a grand scale, a difficult task when timber offered no profits in the short term, especially in comparison to annual crops.

It was the Society of Arts which came up with an effective solution by appealing to the vanity and patriotism of wealthy aristocrats and other society figures. In doing so, it devised a system of honorary medals to be presented annually to those who had planted the most trees that year.

The first gold medal was awarded to the Duke of Beaufort in 1758, with other senior aristocrats claiming their medals in subsequent decades. Their success encouraged lesser public figures, from churchmen to politicians and squires to follow suit, the award of a gold medal holding great social cachet. Together they planted an estimated 60 million trees, some in vast plantations, as they competed against each other for the honour of a gold medal.

One of the successful rivals was the Reverend Charles Hope. As his 1794 gold medal is inscribed, he planted 150,000 mixed timber trees.

The medal is a highlight of the 1-2 February Coins & Historical Medals auction at Noonans, where the estimate is £2,000-2,600.