medal
- Museum number
- M.5162
- Description
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Struck bronze medal. (whole)
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Uniformed bust of Sir Ralph Abercromby at centre. (obverse)
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A horse facing right, pawing with his left fore leg, in front of the three pyramids of Giza. (reverse)
- Production date
- 1801
- Dimensions
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Diameter: 40.000 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Brown 1980 states:
Sir Ralph Abercromby (1734-1801) was educated at Rugby and studied law at Edinburgh and Leipzig. At the age of twenty-two he changed his career and became a cornet in the Third Dragoon Guards. He made rapid progress in the army, serving in five campaigns under the Marquis of Granby. He was elected MP for Clackmannanshire but gave it up because he disapproved of the war that had recently broken out between Britain and America. Abercromby retired from the army in 1783 but retained his commission on half pay. He was recalled in 1793 however, to take command of a brigade of line in Flanders. He went on to command the expedition against the French in the West Indies where he succeeded in capturing St Lucia and Trinidad. His campaign was only a limited success and his greatest achievement was his Egyptian campaign with the subsequent victory at Alexandria. It was in this engagement that Abercromby received wounds in the thigh and chest; the former was to prove fatal a week after the battle.
One of Mudie's National Medals (see Brown 1 p256,1057) issued in 1820. Examples of this medal occur in white metal and are probably restrikes and were not included in the series. Specimens of this medal are believed to have been struck in gold but no example has been met with.
Bibliography: Cochran-Patrick, R. W., 'Catalogue of the Medals of Scotland from the earliest period to the present time', Edinburgh, 1884, 112/36; Grueber, H. A., English Personal Medals for 1760, 'Numismatic Chronicle', third series vol. VII, 1887/248; Mudie, James. 'An historical and critical account of a grand series of National Medals', London, 1820, 8.
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated events
- Named in Inscription: Arrival of the English Army in Egypt
- Department
- Money and Medals
- Registration number
- M.5162
- C&M catalogue number
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MB3 (Brown 1) (123) (504)