Gunpowder Plot Medal Tribute – 2 oz Silver

A hidden serpent and a declaration of divine protection tell the story of a seventeenth-century crisis through medallic art. This Intaglio Mint tribute draws on a Dutch medal of 1605 commemorating the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot. Struck in two troy ounces of .999 fine silver, the 39mm round preserves the symbolic imagery and Latin legends of its historical inspiration.

The Plot Discovered

Robert Catesby and his fellow conspirators planned to destroy the House of Lords during the opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605, killing King James I and members of the government. Their conspiracy developed amid bitter religious and political divisions in England.

On 26 October, Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him not to attend Parliament. He passed it to Robert Cecil, the king’s principal minister. Searches followed, and on the evening of 4 November officials found Guy Fawkes and the concealed gunpowder. Fawkes was using the name John Johnson. With the plan exposed, other conspirators fled toward the Midlands.

A Medal with a Political Message

The Dutch medal linked the plot’s discovery with the expulsion of Jesuits from Holland. Its serpent among flowers expressed the anti-Jesuit accusations of its makers, while the reverse credited divine vigilance with protecting the king. These images record the polemical language of the period; they should be understood as the medal’s historical message rather than a judgment about a religious community.

Obverse Design

A serpent winds among lilies and roses beneath the legend “DETECTVS QVI LATVIT S.C.” The words announce the exposure of someone who had remained hidden. The crowded floral setting makes the concealed snake the key to the design’s meaning.

Reverse Design

The Hebrew name of God, known as the tetragrammaton, occupies the center within rays and a ring of thorns. The surrounding Latin legend “NON DORMITASTI ANTISTES IACOBI” invokes the watchfulness of James’s divine guardian, drawing on Psalm 121. The two sides form a visual contrast between concealment and protection.

Specifications

• Weight: 2.00 troy ounces
• Thickness: Approximately 6mm
• Purity: .999 fine silver
• Edge: Reeded
• Diameter: 39mm
• Finish: Brilliant Uncirculated

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