Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 58 27 Apr 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Commemorative Medals, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, presentation copper medal, 1841, by Benedetto Pistrucci (1783-1855), named to the Irish physicist, astronomer and mathematician, Sir William Rowan Hamilton, FIELD MARSHAL ARTHUR DUKE OF WELLINGTON, bare head l. in high relief, rev. NOVA CANTAMVS TROPÆA, crested Corinthian helmet r., decorated with various mythological scenes, thunderbolt below, edge impressed, W. R. HAMILTON. – VIS VIRTVS VERITAS [the power of truth], 60.5mm. (BHM.2011; Eimer 1353; Eimer Wellington 118; Stef.pl.31; M.pl.35), extremely fine and, as a named medal, extremely rare
Sir William Rowan Hamilton, PRIA, FRSE (1805–1865). In 1835 Hamilton won the Royal Medal of the Royal Society for physics 'For the papers published by him in the 16th and 17th volumes of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, entitled Supplement to an Essay on the Theory of Systems of Rays, and more particularly for those investigations at the conclusion of the third and last supplement, which relate to the discovery of conic refraction'. The 1835 medal for chemistry was won by Michael Faraday. Hamilton received his knighthood from the lord lieutenant of Ireland in the course of a meeting in Dublin of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
It is uncertain if Hamilton and Wellington had any direct contact, but both came from the small town of Trim in the Boyne valley. Talbot Castle, more a fortified manor house, served as the boyhood schoolhouse to both of them, though some 35 years apart.
Sir William Rowan Hamilton, PRIA, FRSE (1805–1865). In 1835 Hamilton won the Royal Medal of the Royal Society for physics 'For the papers published by him in the 16th and 17th volumes of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, entitled Supplement to an Essay on the Theory of Systems of Rays, and more particularly for those investigations at the conclusion of the third and last supplement, which relate to the discovery of conic refraction'. The 1835 medal for chemistry was won by Michael Faraday. Hamilton received his knighthood from the lord lieutenant of Ireland in the course of a meeting in Dublin of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
It is uncertain if Hamilton and Wellington had any direct contact, but both came from the small town of Trim in the Boyne valley. Talbot Castle, more a fortified manor house, served as the boyhood schoolhouse to both of them, though some 35 years apart.