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MEDAL ON FRENCH AND SPANISH FLEETS DEFEAT OFF TOULON 
Last week Dick Hanscom asked about a medal he was trying to identify for a customer. -Editor
Dick wrote: The medal is about 39mm, maybe the thickness of a quarter. Looks like gilt bronze with most of the gold gone. Either that or that is luster showing through. I get the impression that there was a written description accompanying the medal because of the A, B, C etc. that are in the design
As usual, E-Sylum readers have come through with a definitive answer. Edwin Johnson found this example on the Classical Numismatic
group site. Thanks! I broke the description out into separate lines for clarity. -Editor
HANOVER. 1727-1760. Brass Medal (38mm, 13.87 g, 5h). French and Spanish Fleets Defeated off Toulon. Dated 1743|4. Harbor scene with aspects denoted by the following letters — A: in background, ships under sail on sea to right; B: in foreground, human body suspended from gallows (D) to left; C: in background, smaller ships under sail on sea to left; 1743|4 in exergue / Harbor scene with aspects denoted by the following letters — E: in background, fortified town under attack to right; F and G: in background, ships under sail right attacking town; H: in foreground, troops advancing left to right; I: in foreground, lion pouncing right on cock. MI 584/224; Eimer 582. To read the complete lot description, see:
Ron Haller-Williams provided links to several examples, including the British Museum, Dix Noonan Webb, and the CNG piece. Thanks!
Here's one. As Dick noted, the letters were probably a key to an accompanying printed slip or pamphlet. What a great piece of
ephemera should anyone discover an example. For now at least, it seems lost to time. -Editor
A pamphlet was probably issued with this medal to identify the aspects that are marked alphabetically. The medal commemorates the Battle of Toulon 1744, which was a part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). Sides were initially drawn due to the claim that Maria Theresa was ineligible to succeed the Habsburg throne. Great Britain and the Dutch Republic sided with Austria against Prussia and France who saw the dispute as an opportunity to challenge the power and influence of the Habsburg throne. Spain joined the war against Britain and Austria to reassert control over colonies and trade routes that had weakened during the early 18th century due to the expense of their own war of succession. To read the complete description, see:
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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