Lot 735: Commemorative Medals, Greece, Crete, Under Turkish Occupation, The Revolution against the Turks and the Destruction of the Monastery at Arkadi, Trial-Strike in Copper, 1866-67-68-69

Commemorative Medals, Greece, Crete, Under Turkish Occupation, The Revolution against the Turks and the Destruction of the Monastery at Arkadi, Trial-Strike in Copper, 1866-67-68-69, a Phoenix emerging from the flames, ?? ??S ??F??S??? ???G???O??? [Reborn From My Ashes], rev women and children huddle together as the Abbot sets fire to the Monastery, ???????S ?GO? [Cretan War] 1866-67-68-69, 61mm, 95.08g. cf. Wurzback 4768. Struck by a broken die, Very Fine and possibly unique. The key piece for this series. £2,000 Ex Dimitris Loulakakis collection. It is a truly mysterious and magnificent medal as the engraver attempted to include the date of 1869 which marked the end of the Cretan Revolt. This is seen from his idea to join 1866-7. This design was obviously discarded and we are not aware of any other similar piece in private or public collections. The monastery at Arkadi, in Rethymnon had become a fortress that the Turks were determined to destroy. There were 964 people inside the monastery by November 1866 of which less than a quarter were trained soldiers. When capture seemed inevitable, Gabriel Marinakis decided to set fire to a huge supply of war materials killing most of the 964 together with 1500 Turks. In addition, it is believed that it may have been struck as a fund raising device during the time when Crete’s independence had wide support throughout Europe and the United States.

• Offered By: London Coin Galleries Ltd
• Lot #: 735
• Listing #: 190135
• Closed: Thursday, November 10, 2016 5:04:40 PM CT
• Estimate: £2,000