261

Medal of the Beggar's Benison, Anstruther 1826, silver-gilt, unhallmarked, diameter with a suspen...

Currency:GBP Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:300.00 - 500.00 GBP
Medal of the Beggar's Benison, Anstruther 1826, silver-gilt, unhallmarked, diameter with a suspen...
Medal of the Beggar's Benison, Anstruther 1826, silver-gilt, unhallmarked, diameter with a suspension loop. Obverse: naked male and female figures with a lion and bower and BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY. Reverse: sleeping figure of Venus, with attendant Cupid, approached by Adonis; the title and date BEGGARS BENISON ANSTRUTHER 5826 and scroll with LOSE NO OPPORTUNITY 1 1/4" (3.3cm) The Beggar's Benison was a gentleman's drinking club with an overt libertarian nature founded in the East Neuk of Fife in the mid 18th century. It can be compared in character to England's more famous Hellfire Club. According to Stevenson the dies for this medal are in the collections of the National Museums of Scotland. In the absence of his diploma, it is impossible to know when Milne joined the Beggar's Benison, although it may have been during the period that he was stationed at Leith in command of the Firth of Forth Sea Fencibles. It is believed that medals such as this were given to, or purchased by, existing members of the club in 1826 - the date 5826 (from the supposed creation of the world in 4000 BC) being the one used by the Beggar's Benison to denote AD 1826. Stevenson The Begger's Benison East Linton 2001
£300-500