Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 8 20 Sep 2017
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Commemorative Medals, British Empire, David Livingstone (1813-1873), Missionary and Explorer, copper proof or specimen of the Royal Geographical Society's Bearer's Medal, 1874, by Alfred Benjamin Wyon, bust of David Livingstone three-quarters r., rev. legend in eight lines, PRESENTED BY THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON – 1874, 37mm. (Fearon 325.2; Eimer 1637; Storer 2229; cf. Magor 403), numbered "411" on edge, proof-like surface, choice mint state and extremely rare
It has long been understood that the Wyon family kept a reference collection of their medals, each with an impressed number on the edge. No key to the numbering system has ever been discovered and it would seem to have followed a random form. Other medals in the present sale also carry "Wyon numbers". Of the 60 silver Bearer's Medal medals struck, less than 10 examples are believed extant, four of which are in institutional Collections [British Museum; Livingstone Museum, Zambia; Blantyre Museum, Malawi; and the Royal Geographical Society]. The copper proofs must also be exceedingly rare. Pridmore writes (Pridmore, Major F. and Simpson, D. H., Faithful to the End, SNC, May 1970, pp.192-6), that two obverse dies were needed to complete the order of 60 medals as both fractured, "but lasted long enough to complete the total ordered and a few bronze proofs". For further reading see also, Roland Hill, David Livingstone's Bearers' Medals, OMRS Journal, December 2008, pp.229-38.
The W. V. R Baldwin Collection of the Medals of Southern Africa (1500-2000 GBP)
It has long been understood that the Wyon family kept a reference collection of their medals, each with an impressed number on the edge. No key to the numbering system has ever been discovered and it would seem to have followed a random form. Other medals in the present sale also carry "Wyon numbers". Of the 60 silver Bearer's Medal medals struck, less than 10 examples are believed extant, four of which are in institutional Collections [British Museum; Livingstone Museum, Zambia; Blantyre Museum, Malawi; and the Royal Geographical Society]. The copper proofs must also be exceedingly rare. Pridmore writes (Pridmore, Major F. and Simpson, D. H., Faithful to the End, SNC, May 1970, pp.192-6), that two obverse dies were needed to complete the order of 60 medals as both fractured, "but lasted long enough to complete the total ordered and a few bronze proofs". For further reading see also, Roland Hill, David Livingstone's Bearers' Medals, OMRS Journal, December 2008, pp.229-38.
The W. V. R Baldwin Collection of the Medals of Southern Africa (1500-2000 GBP)