Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 37 25 Sep 2019
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Maritime interest: Eddystone Lighthouse, protection from Royal Naval Press Gangs, silver medal or badge, 1757, a view of John Smeaton's tower, flaming light atop, figure on balcony, two ships sail to either side, IN SALUTEM OMNIVM, in ex. on stippled background, EDDISTONE RESURGIT 1757, 42.5mm. (MI.681/398; Daniel Fearon, The Eddystone Lighthouse Medal 1757, SNC December 1967, pp. 328, 329; D&W.125/188; Withers 1823), in Victorian fitted case, lightly toned, good very fine and exceedingly rare in commerce
These medals were produced by order of Robert Weston, a principle shareholder financing the building of this, the third Eddystone Lighthouse. The workmen building the lighthouse were mainly burly Cornish tin-miners who, by wearing the medal when on shore in Plymouth, were provided with full protection from being press-ganged into naval service. Fearon's article states that 'two or three dozen' were ordered and that some seven or eight are thought to have survived. This medal was not included in his tally though, of course, it could be one of the specimens noted but not located. The medal illustrated in the 1967 article was sold in Spink Auction 8, 27 February 1980 and re-appeared in the sale of the W. James Noble Collection, Noble Auctions, Melbourne, Australia, 4-6 August, 1999 (lot 1118). The cataloguer is not aware of the sale of any other specimens in more recent years.
Smeaton's tower was completed in 1759 and remained in use until 1877. It was dismantled and re-erected on Plymouth Hoe, opening to the public on 24 September, 1884
(1500-2000 GBP)
These medals were produced by order of Robert Weston, a principle shareholder financing the building of this, the third Eddystone Lighthouse. The workmen building the lighthouse were mainly burly Cornish tin-miners who, by wearing the medal when on shore in Plymouth, were provided with full protection from being press-ganged into naval service. Fearon's article states that 'two or three dozen' were ordered and that some seven or eight are thought to have survived. This medal was not included in his tally though, of course, it could be one of the specimens noted but not located. The medal illustrated in the 1967 article was sold in Spink Auction 8, 27 February 1980 and re-appeared in the sale of the W. James Noble Collection, Noble Auctions, Melbourne, Australia, 4-6 August, 1999 (lot 1118). The cataloguer is not aware of the sale of any other specimens in more recent years.
Smeaton's tower was completed in 1759 and remained in use until 1877. It was dismantled and re-erected on Plymouth Hoe, opening to the public on 24 September, 1884
(1500-2000 GBP)