Medals

The unexpected but very welcome increase in demand that the market experienced amid Covid lockdowns continued in 2022 as restrictions eased – and auction houses are optimistic about another strong performance this year

The Shanghai Jubilee Medal was instituted in 1893 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first British consul created after the Treaty of Nanking in 1843.

Two Herschel family-related historic items – a Royal Society King’s medal and a manuscript memoir – have changed hands at auction and in a private sale.

Although the box to this bronze medal is dated 1873 (leading the auction house to conclude it was Victorian), the piece itself was struck in 1760.

Although an auction house since 1918, stamps specialist Harmers is a relative newcomer to the London numismatic sales.

The Royal Medal for Astronomy is presented each year by the Royal Society for distinguished contributions to the applied sciences.

A group of medals awarded to the great scientist, explorer and naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was fiercely contested at auction last week, hammered down for a £273,000 (or £327,600 with buyer’s premium) total against a high estimate of £80,900.

Spotlight on honours sold recently includes courageous lifesavers from civilian backgrounds.

A suffragette’s true identity may have been uncovered by an auction house.

A recent sale at Bentley’s (19% buyer’s premium) in Cranbrook, Kent included a rare US Presidential lifesaving medallion.

The 1702 Accession of Queen Anne medal is not uncommon in copper and silver but very rare in gold.

A large collection of tokens and badges relating to Sheffield comes to market at the Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals auction on July 6-7 at London saleroom Dix Noonan Webb.

A group of 56 medals awarded to pioneering photographer Frank Meadow Sutcliffe (1853-1941) is heading back to the area he covered in his evocative images.

A gold medal proclaiming Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church of England – the only known example in private hands – comes for sale in Switzerland.

In the absence of face-to-face contact, 2020 was a difficult year for the numismatics market as a whole... but the auction business found a way to thrive.