Queen’s German Regiment Medal of Merit 1801, pewter, by Hancock, Kempson and Kindon, obverse, Sphinx with staff bearing British and French flags, ‘egypt’ engraved above, ‘xxi march mdccci’ in exergue; reverse, ‘queen’s german regiment’ within a laurel wreath, ‘french defeated’ engraved on the rim either side of the contemporary loop suspension, 47.8 mm (Balmer R579), very fine and very rare £500-600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Napoleonic War Medals formed by the late R.W. Gould, M.B.E..

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Collection

Ex Usher Collection 1975.

This medal was founded to commemorate the recapture of the standard of Napoleon’s ‘Invincibles’ by Private Antoine Lutz of the Queen’s German Regiment, at the battle of Aboukir in Egypt in 1801, after it had been lost by Sergeant Sinclair of the 42nd Foot. Lutz himself was permitted to wear a representation of the standard within a wreath of laurel on his right sleeve.

William Cobbett, in a report on the capture of the standard, quotes from the order establishing this award, ‘... as soon as the regiment is in an established quarter, he will institute a valuable badge , in a certain proportion per company, to be worn by such men as shall have been proved, upon sufficient testimony, to have distinguished themselves, by acts of valour, or by personal instances of meritorious service ...’