Baldwin & Sons
Auction 93 5 May 2015
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COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS, British Historical Medals, Sir Samuel Morland's Steam Engine, Bronze Medal, 1685, the conical-shaped engine on square base, floats in the sea, ship in full sail to right, GRATA SUPER VENIET, rev ornamental fountain with two ships at sea beyond, QUAE NON SPERABITUR UNDA, 28mm (MI 596/280). Small edge "squeeze" at 8 o'clock, otherwise very fine and extremely rare.
Sir Samuel Morland (1625-1695), diplomatist, mathematician and inventor. The medals are said to have been struck by Morland after his appointment as 'Master of Mechanics'. Most of Morland's engines seem to have been used for the pumping of water – at Windsor Castle the machines raised the water some 60 feet. He had already invented a calculating machine, a mechanical calendar of sorts, as well as a pumping system to water his own garden. The suggestion is that this medal recognised a machine designed to give powered propulsion to ships, though quite how the conical vessel, emitting steam from its top, would work is uncertain. In old age he went blind and invented a machine for writing.
Estimate: £400-600
Sir Samuel Morland (1625-1695), diplomatist, mathematician and inventor. The medals are said to have been struck by Morland after his appointment as 'Master of Mechanics'. Most of Morland's engines seem to have been used for the pumping of water – at Windsor Castle the machines raised the water some 60 feet. He had already invented a calculating machine, a mechanical calendar of sorts, as well as a pumping system to water his own garden. The suggestion is that this medal recognised a machine designed to give powered propulsion to ships, though quite how the conical vessel, emitting steam from its top, would work is uncertain. In old age he went blind and invented a machine for writing.
Estimate: £400-600