CNG 85, Lot: 1569. Estimate $400. Sold for $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

STUART. Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury. 1621-1683. AR Medal (40mm, 27.36 g, 12h). Acquittal of the Earl of Shaftesbury. By G. Bower. Dated 1681. · ANTONIO COMITI DE SHAFTESBVRY ·, draped bust right; ·GB·F· on truncation of shoulder / · LÆTAMVR · (Let us rejoice), cityscape of London from Southwark; rayed sun and clouds to upper right; 24 NOV 1681 · in exergue. MI 583/259; Eimer 261. Good VF, toned, a few field marks.

From a California Collection of British Historical Medals.

A statesman and philanthropist who supported the restoration of the monarchy during the Commonwealth, Anthony Ashley Cooper rose in status during the early reign of Charles II. Besides his positions as Governor of the Isle of Wight and Chancellor of the Exchequer, he gained the peerage as Baron Ashley of Wimborne St. Giles and then as the Earl of Shaftesbury. This favor later changed, however, as Ashley developed greater anti-Catholic sentiments and supported the Exclusion Bill, which sought to prevent Charles' brother James, the Duke of York, from the line of succession. Ashley and his supporters even went so far as to propose the Duke of Monmouth, James' eldest illegitimate son, as rightful successor on account of his Protestant leanings. For his role in this crisis, Ashley was initially committed to the Tower of London on the charge of high treason, but was later acquitted in 1681. As support for Charles and James grew and the exclusion crisis lessened, Ashley fled to France and died in Amsterdam the following year in 1683.