Medal, commemorative medal

This medal was commissioned by Henry Jernegan, a goldsmith and banker with premises in Russell Street, Covent Garden. Silver medals like this one were prizes in a lottery he organised in 1736. It was designed by the German medallist, J.S. Tanner, at the Royal Mint. Tanner went on to succeed John Crocker as Chief Engraver of the Mint in 1741.

One of the prizes in Jernegan's lottery was a silver wine cistern. Jernegan made the cistern for a client in Derbyshire, who subsequently changed their mind and refused to pay for it. Thousands of pounds out of pocket, Jernegan petitioned Parliament to allow him to offer the cistern as a prize in the state lottery to fund the new Westminster Bridge. Jernegan's petition was unsuccessful so he organised his own lottery which piggybacked the official scheme. He offered 70, 000 tickets at ten shillings each. Despite his Jacobite sympathies, Jernegan managed to gain royal approval to have his medals struck at the Mint. On the obverse of the medal Minerva, the Roman goddess of arts and crafts, is depicted holding a spear. On the reverse, Queen Caroline is shown watering young trees.