Lord Horatio Nelson is our nation’s greatest naval leader and strategist. From 1793 until his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 he fought with vigour and imagination, often out-manoeuvring his enemies with tactics and strategies that no-one had used before. He was courageous too, leading “from the front”, resulting in the loss of an eye while defending Corsica and then the loss of an arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz in Tenerife. His decisive victories secured Britain’s dominance of the seas for more than a century, which in turn enabled the expansion of Britain’s trading empire right around the globe.
One of the greatest victories of Nelson’s career was his defeat of the Napoleon’s navy at the Battle of the Nile. This was more than just ‘a win’ though; Nelson destroyed much of the fleet pitted against him. Historians at the Royal Navy call it “the most overwhelming naval victory in the age of sail”. Although there was recognition of this victory at the time, no commemorative coins were produced.
Now, in this 225th anniversary year, this historical oversight is being corrected with the release of a series of limited edition gold sovereign coins to celebrate Britain’s greatest naval commander, Lord Nelson. Introducing the 2023 Lord Nelson Tribute Gold Sovereign Range, and in particular, the one-eighth sovereign…