Description
GREAT BRITAIN 1808 English Army Arrives in the Peninsula 41mm copper medal 40.82 grams, from 1820 by N.G.A. Brenet for the Mudie National Series, (Mudie 12, BHM 635, Eimer 988, Wellington 1)
Obverse: bust facing right, ARTHUR DUKE OF WELLINGTON
Reverse: female figures of Spain and Portugal advancing, one reflecting thunderbolts from an eagle, seek assistance from a moored British ship, THE ENGLISH ARMY ARRIVES IN THE PENINSULA / MDCCCVIII D.
James Mudie's series of forty "National Medals" was produced in 1820 and manufactured by Sir Edward Thomason in Birmingham, England. The medals celebrate British triumphs in the Napoleonic wars over the French spanning a 20 year period, from 1797 to 1817. They serve as a counter to the numerous, officially issued French medals glorifying the battles and events of Napoleon's reign. They are the same size, 41 millimeters as the official Napoleonic medals, and most of the dies were produced in France.
Nicolas-Guy-Antoine Brenet (c1770 - 1846) was a French medallist, and pupil of Girod and Gatteaux. From 1808 onward he was employed producing a large quantity of commemorative medals of French historical events that occurred under the Empire, the Restoration and the July Monarchy, and almost surprisingly by John Mudie for his “National Series”.
