Rare medal to Napoleonic campaign.

Posted On: 13 Dec 2024

Eldreds forthcoming sale of Collectors’ Items in February is building up well, with model railway, items of military interest, diecasts and an extensive one-owner collection of lead soldiers already consigned. One of the highlights of the auction will undoubtedly be a Naval General Service Medal awarded to a John Williams, with two clasps: Egypt and Acre 30 May 1799. Whilst being instituted in 1847, the medal was awarded retrospectively, mainly to officers and men for service in naval actions 1793-1840, including the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The recipient had to have survived until 1847 and then to actively apply for the medal but owing to various factors including illiteracy and lack of publicity for the medal, many qualifying men did not apply, adding both to its rarity and subsequent value. John Williams served aboard captured French battleship HMS Tigre in both the defence of the Ottoman city of Acre (now Akko on the Mediterranean coast of Israel) during Napoleon Bonaparte’s unsuccessful siege of 1799 and also during the Egyptian campaign between 8th March 1801 and 2nd September the same year. Only forty-one medals with the ‘Acre 30 May 1799’ clasp were awarded in total, with twenty-seven of those to the ship; thirty-three clasps being awarded to the ship HMS Tigre for the Egyptian campaign. The medal carries a pre-sale estimate of £3,000-5,000. To consign your collectable items for this special sale, contact Eldreds for free valuation and professional advice. Images (with contact telephone number) can be sent to: info@eldreds.net