Sale Report - Medals & Militaria March 2010

Our sale of medals and militaria to a packed and eager saleroom of noted dealers and collectors offered over 120 lots to the market. Our specialist sales are predominately online auctions,extending the scope of buyer interest and seller reach, a necessity in today’s competitive market with a total of 77 lots being won by internet bidders.

Lot 110

Top prices,on par with London values,were headed by an exemplary Naval General Service medal, 1793-1840, one clasp, St Vincent to Midshipman William Larke. Henry Meadows, medals and militaria specialist,found this rare item out of the blue and advised a pre sale estimate of £3000-3500. Henry commented “seldom do fine medals like this come onto the open market and the circumstances surrounding the vendor acquiring this medal are exceptional. The medal was bought some years ago from a flea market for the princely sum of £20 and had been in the back of a drawer until I was contacted. Toying with the idea of letting her grandchildren play with it, The Cotswold Auction Company's report and valuation hove to and ran up a flag to assist with the sale of this medal.”

This particular Naval General Service medal was awarded to a Midshipman who worked his way up the ranks and retired as a Commander (unusual in its own right). William Larke was present at the action off the Portuguese coast of Cape St. Vincent, a battle which raged throughout the 14^th February 1797, and subsequently a British Fleet of 15 were victorious over the 27 enemy ships. This clasp like all N.G.S. clasps of this period were issued retrospectively in 1848 and the recipient had to be living to claim it. Larke and three other officers who served in H.M.S. Prince George were the only surviving officers to do so and consequently from a collector’s perspective this makes the medal scarce and desirable. 

Careful pre sale marketing caused considerable interest and a real buzz on sale day: two telephone bidders going head to head, Henry was thrilled with the hammer price,of £4600 +17.5% buyer’s premium, and was delighted to inform the vendor, who nearly dropped the vacuum cleaner!

Lot 113

Four lots sourced from the north included family groups which were split by Henry into four single lots to optimize the value for the client. These included a Boer War and Great War group to Surgeon A.R. Tweedie. Tweedie had a long and successful career,serving in New Zealand, South Africa, Gallipoli and Egypt. A highly respected man,he was made an, Honorary Surgeon at the Nottingham General. The hammer price for this lot was £580.

The following lot comprised a selection of unusual medals to Mr. Tweedie’s mother-in-law, one Mrs. Abbie Anna (Cadle) Mahin. She was a “Daughter of the American Revolution”, a society formed in the late 19^th century to honour their brave fathers. Researching these unusual medals (many of which were gold) Henry discovered that the recipient and her husband, a Mr Frank Mahin (during the Great War,the American consul in the Netherlands) survived a U boat  torpedo attack en route to the United Kingdom. From a collectors point of view such snippets of information about the recipient’s life add interest and value and for that reason this lot fetched £450.

Lot 114

An Indian Mutiny medal to Gunner William Trenholm who served with the Bengal Horse Artillery during the 1857-58 campaign sold well with the combination of these three clasps it was unique to the regiment and this was evident from the amount of interest being knocked down to a commission bidder by Henry at £1050 against a presale estimate of £600-800.

Lot 115

The following lot was a combination of India and Boer War service to Gunner Trenholm’s son (also a William) who was a Private serving with the prestigious D.C.L.I., Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.Remarkable about the India General Service 1892-1902 issue is the unusual, crude style of naming, applicable only, to this regiment. A nice group, which, like most of the entries in this sale was “fresh to the market,” it sold to a bidder in the room at £550.

Lot 116

Other lots which commanded high hammer prices were:

Lot 119

A Crimea Group of Three to General Sir Francis William Thomas, K.C.B., Royal Marine Light Infantry who saw considerable action during his time in the Crimea Campaign and was present at Odessa, Balaklava, Eupatoria and Kinburn: Hammer price £720.

Lot 111

A 'Military' M.B.E., M.S.M., Group of Thirteen to Major G. Perry, Royal Signals, Twice Mentioned in Despatches also did well. Perry was a long serving Officer and this was evident from his long run of medals. All the original documents and photographs of the recipient in uniform were included. This was consigned locally and forensic attention to detail in the cataloguing by Henry Meadows assisted the lot to secure £780 for the estate.

Many of the single medals were consigned from one vendor;provenance; “in the back of the drawer”, a term medal collectors so often hear! Coming along to one of our regular specialist valuation days last year, the vendor was pleased to be told that her late husband’s collection would be carefully researched and professionally catalogued. Whilst on the rostrum Henry enjoyed seeing the vendor's delight keep pace with the prices being achieved,some lots racing past the estimates by a country mile.This applied particularly to the India General Service medals to Indian recipients.The demand for these seems to be on the up and Henry believes that their values will increasingly develop as research data becomes better.The hammer total for this vendor’s lots was circa £4000.

Lot 24A

Not forgetting the militaria section a cased Adams Patent 1851 pattern 5-shot revolver by ‘J. Rigby, Dubin’ fetched £780 whilst a large collection of Naval memorabilia fared equally well. Collectors could buy uniforms, medals, cap badges, cap tallies and much more. Top prices were paid for cap badges of all types typically mounted on felt boards; £130 was paid for a cap tally “black out curtain”. The edged weapons all sold well within estimate with Indian and other ethnic weapons proving to still be as popular as ever.