Click to view attachment Click to view attachment The figure of Hope is standing holding a cornucopia, but any guesses as to what she has tucked under her arm? Princess Charlotte, Betrothal to Prince William of Orange (1792-1849), white metal medal, 1814, by Thomas Webb (for Thomason), bare head right, CAROLETTA AVGVSTA, rev standing figure of Hope, with olive branch, cornucopiae and ???? (Blanked out by me!), SPES PVBLICA, 54mm (BHM 778 – not listed in WM).

with cornucopia, rudder and olive branch,

Thanks Mark nice to hear from you, that is what it says but it is a funny looking rudder. I am hoping someone comes up with a better idea!

Fortuna holds rudder and cornucopiae, and may rest upon a globe. May also hold an olive branch or patera.

Check the top coin here in her right hand. That one is similar.

Thanks Mark the info about the globe makes sense, the rudder as a symbol of exploration, trade or sea power resting on the globe makes everything fit. The listing as just a rudder seemed strange. Thanks again have a Great Week-End.

It does seem overly thin and symmetrical for a rudder.

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment These pictures show it is an ancient rudder but what seemed to be the globe is it fact the unstable rolling ball denoting the uncertainty of life. According to the Theoi Project's Guide to Greek Mythology, Tykhe had many forms in Greek mythology. She was both guiding (represented with a rudder), and unsteady (represented with a ball, rolling in any direction). Her downside (Nemesis, or Fair Distribution) was the misfortune to balanceout good fortune. Widely regarded with caution and respect, Tykhe was credited with both good and bad fortune at sea, at war, and in politics. The best known goddess of Luck and Fortune is, of course, the Roman goddess Fortuna, after whose name the word is formed; but it is not clear how much her name means purely "fortune" in the modern sense, and how much of it means "fate" in its wider interpretation. Fortuna was a very popular Goddess, worshipped under many epithets depending on the type of luck one wished to invoke or the circumstances in which it happened. She had many temples in Rome and in other places belonging to the Latini tribes, and was in charge of both personal and public luck. Depicted holding in one hand a cornucopia—a horn of plenty—and in the other a ship's rudder, she controlled both the direction and the products of one's life; but the rudder sometimes changed into a "wheel of fortune"—which is seen also as the disk of the Sun, making her a Seasonal goddess. Many Thanks for all the help in solving this mystery.

I'd never thought of the implement as a rudder but instead as a shovel or spade, at least as it pertained to my agriculturally influenced Pfennig patterns (see middle one)...obviously I was wrong. It does make more sense though and I'm glad I found out before I wrote up a description for them. Looks like back to the 'ancients' books for me too.

I initially thought it was a spade or shovel too. Depicting the daughter of the Prince Regent, Princess Charlotte as Fortuna must have appealled to the producer of the medal, Napoleon and the french were in full retreat, the future heiress to the throne was betrothed in marriage and hopes for children to continue the Hanoverian dynasty were in the air. Forgotten was the ball under the rudder, under 3 years later Charlotte, only 21 years old, died of complications after a failed delivery.The obstetrician, Sir Richard Croft, who had correctly diagnosed a transverse lie of the baby during labour but failed to use a forceps, was distraught. Three months later, he shot himself during another woman's childbirth. Thus, Charlotte's single pregnancy is known in medical history as “the triple obstetrical tragedy”. The Princess was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor with her son at her feet. Her death was mourned nationally, on a scale similar to that which followed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The ball of fate had turned and her uncles scurried to marry and produce heirs. After her father George the third died her uncle became William the 4th and after his death Victoria became queen hence the Victorian age but no Charlottian age. The fickle hand of fate, or should I say Ball under the Rudder of life had the last laugh at us mortals again.

Click to view attachment

What an interesting and informative thread!

I learned something here today.