Watch List notes:

CANADA. New Brunswick. George William Wyon Obituary Silver Medal, 1862. London Mint. Victoria. PCGS SPECIMEN-62.
B-22; Ch-NB-4. Weight: 86.1 grains (as opposed to the 71.8 grains for the currency planchet). Plain edge. Obverse: G. W. WYON / OBIT / MARCH 27th 1862 / ÆTAT / 26 YEARS in five lines; Reverse: The normal design for the current New Brunswick 20 Cents. Quite iridescently toned, with strong cobalt, lilac, and burgundy allure, and a tremendous amount of brilliance shimmering from beneath. An incredibly and highly dazzling specimen, with robust eye appeal and exotic charm. This INCREDIBLY RARE "medal" is, according to its previous appearance in our 1991 Frontenac Sale, likely one of just four specimens known to have survived from the time of their striking nearly 160 years ago.

Pairing the then-current reverse for the New Brunswick minor with a specially designed obverse commemorating the life of G. W. Wyon, this piece poses a rather intriguing question: why would an issue seemingly commemorative in nature exhibit an ordinary coin type reverse?

Wyon was a member of the famous engraving family well known by collectors of British coins and medals, as well as those under British dominion. This particular Wyon was the son of James Wyon (1804--1868), who became resident engraver in London in 1851 upon the death of his cousin William Wyon (1795--1851). Both George (1834--1862) and his brother Henry (1834--1856) served along with father James as engravers, with both sadly predeceasing him. When James retired, it was George who succeeded him as a resident engraver at the mint--a position that he held for just two years (1860-2) before his untimely death at the age of just 26, as is conveyed on this piece. According to Bowman, "...no definite data on the designer or engraver of this reverse appears to exist, but this medalet strongly suggests the name of George William Wyon as the artist." It is quite likely that the design for this New Brunswick 20 Cents was created by George William Wyon, rather than by the hand of cousin and fellow engraver Leonard Charles Wyon (1826--1891, son of the aforementioned William Wyon). This would then serve as the basis for the "medal" in question, as the New Brunswick design may have been the final work which George William Wyon conducted before his death in 1862. Therefore, a tribute to his craft, and an exceedingly rare and important one at that.

George Bowman knew of just one example of this extraordinary type (the Brushfield Sale, 1945), which he subsequently presented to the Chateau de Ramezay Museum in Montreal. An additional specimen is known to have been sold in a New Netherlands Coin Co. sale in 1960, and then again three years later in a Hans M. F. Schulman auction. No other examples have been located as appearing in major auctions over the last two decades, during which time some rather important collections of Canadian coinage have crossed the auction block. Includes original red leather presentation case of issue, along with ICCS tag where it also graded SPECIMEN-62.

Ex: Frontenac Sale (Bowers & Merena - 11/1991) Lot #5417.

Estimate: $5000 - $10000