Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 498 18 Aug 2021
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HANOVER. temp. Victoria. 1837-1901. Bronzed PB Medal (68mm, 181.5 g, 12h). Holborn Restaurant. By an uncertain medallist. Dated 1874, but struck circa 1895. Presented to James W. Greenalch, 9 July 1896. Group of men and women around ornate arched entrance; above, HOLBORN; in exergue, RESTAURANT/ ESTB 1874 / Ornate interior ballroom with multiple dancing couples; below, scroll engraved, PRESENTED BY THE PROPRIETORS/ To James W. Greenalch, Esq/ July 9th 1896. Eimer 1640; BHM 2990. Deep black surfaces, rim bruise. EF.
The Holborn Restaurant is one of the grandest of London's great lost establishments. Founded in 1874, it was the site of the founding of the British Chess Federation and hosted banquets during the 1908 London Olympics. In fiction, it is known as the location where Dr. John Watson learns of Sherlock Holmes for the first time (A Study in Scarlet, Chap. 1). The structure was demolished in 1955. Today, a Sainsbury's supermarket occupies the site.
This example was presented to James W. Greenalch, an American merchant from Roxbury, Massachusetts. In the summer of 1896, he traveled to London with the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. The group attended a military review on July 9th, followed that evening with dinner at the Holborn Restaurant, attended by the Prince of Wales. A memoir describes the event: "It was an expensive and well arranged affair, every ticket gave you a number and seat at the table, and the tickets were so arranged that the seats of the Ancients came between two of the invited guests. The hall was handsomely trimmed with flags and bunting, the English and American flags being entwined. Of course the menu was all that could be wished; about every ten feet apart on the tables were monuments of ice about four feet high." (W. Hichborn. Trip of the Ancients, a Memoir of Events [Malden, 1897], p. 57.)
The Holborn Restaurant is one of the grandest of London's great lost establishments. Founded in 1874, it was the site of the founding of the British Chess Federation and hosted banquets during the 1908 London Olympics. In fiction, it is known as the location where Dr. John Watson learns of Sherlock Holmes for the first time (A Study in Scarlet, Chap. 1). The structure was demolished in 1955. Today, a Sainsbury's supermarket occupies the site.
This example was presented to James W. Greenalch, an American merchant from Roxbury, Massachusetts. In the summer of 1896, he traveled to London with the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. The group attended a military review on July 9th, followed that evening with dinner at the Holborn Restaurant, attended by the Prince of Wales. A memoir describes the event: "It was an expensive and well arranged affair, every ticket gave you a number and seat at the table, and the tickets were so arranged that the seats of the Ancients came between two of the invited guests. The hall was handsomely trimmed with flags and bunting, the English and American flags being entwined. Of course the menu was all that could be wished; about every ten feet apart on the tables were monuments of ice about four feet high." (W. Hichborn. Trip of the Ancients, a Memoir of Events [Malden, 1897], p. 57.)