Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 54 9 Dec 2020
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Commemorative Medals, The Royal Institution, A Second Highly Important Member's silver ticket or pass named to Sir Joseph Banks round silver ticket or pass, to Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), explorer, naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences, ROYAL INSTITUTION 1819, rev. naming in engraved italics in 3 lines, Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Banks Bart. G.C.B. Pr.R.S., 32mm (Withers 2680), seemingly unused and virtually mint state
*ex A. H. Baldwin vaults
Banks was invested as a Knight of the Order of the Bath in 1795, the honour becoming Knight Grand Cross when the Order was restructured in 1815. The passes were only issued in 1819 and it seems possible that when Banks received his ticket (lot 2133 above), he requested another with this new wording. Since he died in June 1820 he might well have had no chance to use it. See also footnote to lot 2127.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (located at 21 Albermarle Street, London), was founded in March 1799 in a meeting instigated by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, and held by the leading British scientists of the age at the Soho Square house of the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. It was to be an organization devoted to the "diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life". Simply put, the aim of the Institution was to introduce new technologies and expand and facilitate scientific education and research for the benefit of the general public. George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea, was elected President in June and it was through his influence with King George III that the Institution received its Royal Charter in 1800. In 1810 the Royal Institution was converted from a private organisation owned by a small number of Proprietors to a public institution by an Act of Parliament
(1000-1500 GBP)
*ex A. H. Baldwin vaults
Banks was invested as a Knight of the Order of the Bath in 1795, the honour becoming Knight Grand Cross when the Order was restructured in 1815. The passes were only issued in 1819 and it seems possible that when Banks received his ticket (lot 2133 above), he requested another with this new wording. Since he died in June 1820 he might well have had no chance to use it. See also footnote to lot 2127.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (located at 21 Albermarle Street, London), was founded in March 1799 in a meeting instigated by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, and held by the leading British scientists of the age at the Soho Square house of the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. It was to be an organization devoted to the "diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life". Simply put, the aim of the Institution was to introduce new technologies and expand and facilitate scientific education and research for the benefit of the general public. George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea, was elected President in June and it was through his influence with King George III that the Institution received its Royal Charter in 1800. In 1810 the Royal Institution was converted from a private organisation owned by a small number of Proprietors to a public institution by an Act of Parliament
(1000-1500 GBP)