Medal from Horatio Nelson’s Band of Brothers wins $123K at Noonans

Gold medal given to Captain Davidge Gould, one of the men from the group dubbed the “band of brothers” who fought alongside Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson against Napoleon, which sold for £100,000 (about $123,000) plus the buyer’s premium at Noonans on January 18. Image courtesy of Noonans

LONDON – The Battle of the Nile 1798 Post Captain’s Naval gold medal awarded to Davidge Gould, captain of the 74-gun H.M.S. Audacious and one of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson’s Band of Brothers who fought alongside him in that naval contest against Napoleon, was sold by Noonans in its auction of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria for a hammer price of £100,000 (about $123,000) on January 18. Estimated at £80,000-£100,000, it was bought online by a private collector.

The Battle of the Nile took place in August 1798 in the Mediterranean near Egypt’s Nile delta, pitting the forces of Nelson against those of French General Napoleon Bonaparte; the English dealt the French a sound and solid defeat.

Portrait of Davidge Gould, who captained the 74-gun British vessel H.M.S. Audacious during the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and won a gold medal for his efforts. That medal just sold at auction for £100,000 (about $123,000) plus the buyer’s premium. Image courtesy of Noonans.

Captain Gould had also been embroiled in the controversy around Lord Nelson’s affair with Lady Emma Hamilton.

Before the sale, Head of Client Liaison at Noonans Christopher Mellor-Hill commented: “The gold medal speaks for itself in that very few of these ever come on the market having survived being melted down for their gold content, and were only awarded to the captains of the HMS ships in such important and successful naval actions. It is being sold by a collector.”