The Battle of the Nile was regarded by contempories as the greatest naval victory in British history, so much so that Alexander Davison -- Nelson's Prize Agent and close friend -- decided to commission and pay for a medal with which to award every man who had been present. Manufactured by Matthew Boulton at his Soho Mint in Birmingahm and struck in various metals from gold to bronze -- depending on the rank of the recipient -- this was the very first occasion on which a medal was presented to every man who had taken part in a military or naval victory. The concept of the government rewarding a fighting man was still in the future and may well ahve been prompted by Davison's action in 1798.