MEXICO. Mexico City. Royal Academy of Spanish and Public Law Silver Medal, 1778. Charles III. PCGS AU-58.
Grove-K-75a; Vives-51. By G. A. Gil. Diameter: 57mm. VERY RARE. Obverse: Armored bust of Charles III right; Reverse: Tribunal of four figures (allegorical figures of fortitude, temperance, prudence and justice) around table on raised dais with three other figures below. The Mexico City "Mo" mint mark is visible at 8 o'clock on the reverse very neatly hidden on a rock. The designer of this medal Geronimo Antonio Gil, was engraver at the Mexico city mint and a founding director of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos (Royal medalists Academy). A large and impressive medal, boldly struck giving full detail to the robust portrait of the king in armor as well as the finer devices of the reverse design. Barely perceptible wear, as denoted by the grade, and attractive golden toning with occasional cobalt and russet on the otherwise white argent surfaces. Two varieties of this medal exist, the first with the obverse die signed "G. A. GIL.", the second simply "GIL". The medal offered here is the first and rarer of the two medals, of which only 154 pieces were struck before the obverse die broke and was replace with the die signed "GIL". A wonderful medal and prime example of the pinnacle of neoclassical medallic artistry in Mexico.

Estimate: $1000.00- $1500.00