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St. James's Auctions Ltd > Auction 113Auction date: 27 November 2025
Lot number: 241

Price realized: 65 GBP   (Approx. 86 USD / 74 EUR)   Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees.
Lot description:


George II, Death 1760, copper medal, by Jean Dassier, laureate bust l., rev. monument with details of many Victories, TRIUMPHA UBIQUE, including 'AMERI', 41mm. (MI 714/454; Eimer 681; Eisler 36; Betts 427), very fine; Sentimental Magazine, copper medallet of George II, 1773-4, by J. Kirk, 25.5mm, both very fine (2)

Estimate: 80 - 120 GBP

Match 1:
St. James's Auctions Ltd > Auction 113Auction date: 27 November 2025
Lot number: 215

Price realized: 95 GBP   (Approx. 126 USD / 108 EUR)   Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees.
Lot description:


Jacobite interest: Lieutenant-General John Manners, Marquis of Granby, his death, copper medal, 1770, by Lewis Pingo, his bust l., GRANBY above, rev. Mars seated left with spear, shield and military trophies, MILITVM DVX ET AMICVS, 40.5mm. (BHM 145; Eimer 733; Eimer, Pingo 45), extremely fine, scarce; copper medallets (2), 1759, THE BRITISH HERO, 27mm. (MI 703/436), fine; Sentimental Magazine, copper medallet of Granby, 1773-4, by J. Kirk, 25mm., very fine (3)
First ex. E.W. Danson (Dix, Noonan, Webb, 2 April 2014, lot 773) Collection
Granby fought at the Battle of Culloden (1746), serving on the Duke of Cumberland's staff. During the Seven Years War, he fought at the Battles of Minden (1758), Warburg (1760), Vellingshausen (1761) and Whilhelmsthal (1762).

Estimate: 120 - 160 GBP

Match 2:
Spink > Auction 25124Auction date: 30 January 2026
Lot number: 366

Price realized: 3,200 GBP   (Approx. 4,404 USD / 3,692 EUR)   Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees.
Lot description:


Industrial Prize Medals awarded to John Penn & Sons (6) | Great Exhibition, AE Council Medal, 1851, by W. Wyon and C. Wyon, awarded to John Penn & Son, VICTORIA D : G : BRIT : REG F : D : ALBERTUS PRINCEPS CONJUX, conjoined busts left, she laureate, dolphins below, trident in field, rev. DISSOCIATA LOGIS CONCORDI PACE LIGAVTI, Britannia seated right, confers wreath to Industria kneeling, Africa, America, Asia and Europe in attendance, COUNCIL MEDAL OF THE EXHIBITION. JOHN PENN & SON. CLASS V. on edge, 76mm, 418.85g, (Eimer 455; BHM 2461; Allen 34-35), minor edge bruise, otherwise with handsome chocolate brown surfaces and with lustre, good extremely fine, in broken original red leather case of issue, one of only 174 Council medal awarded; and, Great Exhibition, AE Gilt Service's Medal, 1851, by. W. Wyon, HRH PRINCE ALBERT PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION, bare head left, rev. EXHIBITION OF THE WORKS OF INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS., FOR SERVICES, within wreath, date below, 55.03g, 48mm (Eimer 1458; BHM 2465), toned to the peripheries and with some deposits, otherwise much as struck, in case of issue; and, International Exhibition, AE Prize Medal, 1862, by L. C. Wyon, awarded to John Penn, Britannia seated, surrounded by female figures bearing the products of Art, Science, Industry and Agriculture, a lion in foreground, rev. 1862 LONDINI HONORIS CAUSA in four lines within wreath, JOHN PENN, C. ., JUROR. CLASS VIII. on edge, 77mm, 217.33g, (Eimer 1553; BHM 2747; Jones 1979, 291), hints of verdigris to reverse, otherwise with a handsome flashy near-brilliance to light brown surfaces, extremely fine; and, Fine Arts Exhibition, Gilt AE Prize Medal, 1873, by J. E. Boehm and G. T. Morgan, awarded to John Penn, ALBERT . EDWARD . PRINCE . OF . WALES . PRESIDENT, bare head left of Albert, Prince of Wales, plume behind, rev. . LONDON . ANNUAL . INTERNATIONAL . EXHIBITION . OF . ALL . FINE . ARTS . INDUSTRIES . AND . INVENTIONS ., view of the Albert Hall, MDCCCLXXIII on banner below, JOHN PENN . F.R.S. FOR SERVICES. on edge,150.49g, 70mm (Eimer 1622; BHM 2964), previously cleaned, lightly toned, otherwise much as issued, in case of issue; and, International Exhibition, London, AE Prize Medal, 1874, by J. E. Boehm and G. T. Morgan, awarded to John Penn, ALBERT . EDWARD . PRINCE . OF . WALES . PRESIDENT, bare head left of Albert, Prince of Wales, rev. . LONDON . ANNUAL . INTERNATIONAL . EXHIBITION . OF . ALL . FINE . ARTS . INDUSTRIES . AND . INVENTIONS ., view of the Albert Hall, MDCCCLXXIV on banner below, JOHN PENN . F.R.S. FOR SERVICES. on edge, 77.73g, 52mm (BHM 2992), lightly toned to lustrous and light brown surfaces, handsome and much as struck, in case of issue; and, Anglo-French Exhibition, London, 1865, AE Medal, by E. Weigand, RICHARD COBDENN BORN 1804 DIED 1865, bust three-quarters right, rev. within laurel PEACE JUBILEE ANGLO-FRENCH WORKING -CLASS EXHIBITION LONDON 1865, 41mm, 30.27g (BHM 2839; Eimer 1576),lustrous in fields, much as issued, in broken case of issue (6).
The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held on a specifically prepared site in Hyde Park. Five official award medals were struck, with the recipient's brief details and class number inscribed on the edge. The medals are as follows:
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1. The Council Medal
2. The Prize Medal
3. The Exhibitor's Medal
4. The Juror's Medal
5. The Services Medal
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Medals were presented to exhibitors as well as to those helping in the organisation of the exhibition itself. The numbers awarded include 174 Council and 2918 Prize medals.
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John Penn & Sons of Greenwich was a prominent marine engineering firm. Founded between 1799-1801 by John Penn Senior as a millwright business specialising in equipment for flour mills. The works also produced William Cubitt's prison treadmill design around 1818. Marine engineering commenced in 1825, and by the 1830s, John Penn Junior (then in his twenties) had gradually assumed management, pioneering the use of oscillating cylinder engines for paddleboats on the London-Richmond route from 1833.
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The company's reputation soared after John Penn Senior's death in 1843, when Penn Junior approached the Admiralty with an offer to install high-power oscillating engines in the Admiralty steam yacht Black Eagle. The success of these engines led to Penn's installing further examples in many of the last paddle-wheel warships through to 1852.
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For screw-propeller vessels, Penn developed the innovative trunk engine, which positioned horizontal cylinders safely below the waterline while delivering unprecedented power. The firm supplied engines for major naval vessels including the Arrogant and Encounter (1845) and produced engines for Crimean War naval vessels.
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Penn & Sons became regarded as the best-equipped marine engineering works of its era, expanding significantly to meet both Admiralty demands and orders from the mercantile shipping and liner industries.,
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This Council Medal was awarded in 1851 for the following:
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Class V: Machines for direct use, including Carriages and Railway and Naval Mechanism, Section A: Steam Engines and Boilers, John Penn & Sons was awarded this medal for the following:

'1. A pair of 12-hp oscillating cylinder direct-acting engines for river navigation of light construction and good workmanship for river navigation. 2. A pair of 30-hp patent direct-acting engines, called trunk engines, for driving a screw propeller.',
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The fifth medal, awarded in 1874, was issued within Division III, Class XIV, for recent scientific inventions and new discoveries of all kinds.



Estimate: £800 - £1000

Match 3:
St. James's Auctions Ltd > Auction 113Auction date: 27 November 2025
Lot number: 227

Price realized: 240 GBP   (Approx. 317 USD / 274 EUR)   Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees.
Lot description:


George II and Queen Caroline, a pair of official silver Coronation medals, 1727, by J. Croker, his laureate bust l., rev. the King crowned, 34.5mm; her bust l., rev. the Queen attended by Britannia and Religion, 35mm. (MI 479/4, 480/8; Eimer 510, 512), good fine and fine; and a contemporary copper medallet in imitation of Queen Caroline's medal, 24mm. (MI 482/11), good very fine, rare thus (3)

Estimate: 100 - 150 GBP

Match 4:
Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) > Auction 343Auction date: 14 October 2025
Lot number: 34

Price realized: 650 GBP   (Approx. 864 USD / 746 EUR)   Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees.
Lot description:


The Collection of British Historical Medals formed by the late Ralph Kennedy

George I, Death, 1727, a damascened copper medal by J. Dassier, laureate and draped bust right, rev. Britannia seated left, holding medallion of George II, 32mm, 17.84g (Eisler 172; MI II, 474/92; E 507; cf. DNW 199, 834). A couple of minor obverse edge nicks, otherwise very fine and with good gilding, rare £300-£400

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George I died on 11 June 1727 (O.S.), 22 June 1727 (N.S.)

Match 5:
Spink > Auction 25360Auction date: 9 December 2025
Lot number: 9

Price realized: 2,500 GBP   (Approx. 3,336 USD / 2,864 EUR)   Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees.
Lot description:


HIS MAJESTY THE KING'S SOLICITOR GENERAL'S ROYAL GOLD BADGE FROM THE REIGN OF CHARLES II
, Solicitor General's Royal Gold Badge, c. 1660-1670, unsigned, but attributed to Thomas Rawlins, crowned, armoured and draped bust left, C2-R across field, surrounded by floral oak border, rev. as before, 25mm x 29mm, 4.77g, 12h (E. Hawkins Medallic Illustrations [1885], Vol. I, p. 446, no. 23 [Unpublished in Gold]; Murdoch [1904], 209b [Silver]; Eimer 205 variety; Dr Jerome J. Platt, lot 107 [Silver])., Struck in low relief upon two embossed clichées soldered; with historic scratches to King's cheek and a hint of crimping to foils, a very rare Restoration Supporters' Badge, presumed UNIQUE in gold, and of the greatest historical interest as pedigreed to the family of Sir Francis Winnington..
Charles II (29 May 1630 - 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and after his Restoration in 1660, King of England and Ireland until his death in 1685. He was the eldest surviving son of King Charles I and Henrietta Maria; whose own medallic legacy is as broad as it is artistically rich. After the regicidal execution at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II as King on 5 February.
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Royal favour and likewise reciprocal fealty, both civic and bellic, was established with the gifting and wearing of such badges as the present specimen. As Edward Hawkins (Medallic Illustrations, Vol. I, pp. 437-446) has noted: "The following badges were doubtless worn as medals or ornaments, and were indications of affection to the monarchy, either upon the prospect of its speedy restoration or upon its actual re-establishment... all must have been executed, as the portraits and dress show, during the King's exile or very early in his reign." Compelling evidence for this is to be found in contemporary surviving documents archived with the Office of the Privy Council:
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Sir John Smythe of Lord Grandison's Horse and Sir Robert Welch of Wilmot's Horse were honoured on 1 June 1643 with "a gold medal with the effigies of himself [the King] and his son to the chief personages who have aided the Royal cause" in response to their gallant conduct in rescuing the Royal Standard at the Battle of Edgehill. The original instruction to Sir William Parkhurst and Thomas Bushell, Wardens of the Royal Mint at the Tower of London elaborates this matter further: "We are not satisfied by having imparted to them the true sence we conceive of their dutifull affections in Our Letters, and Our Verball thanks for the same, without leaving some more durable Monument of Our Royall Grace, and favour to remaine in after ages, as an Evidence of their Fidelity to their Prince and Country. We have therefore caused Our owne Royall Image, with that or our dearest Sonne, Prince Charles, to be impressed on a Medall of Gold, and a Commemoration of his well-deservings to whom it was designed, to be inscribed on the Reverse, whereby his Posterity may assume the Glory that their Ancestor stood Loyall to their Sovereigne when the Malignity of Rebellion had neere covered the face of his flourishing Kingdom. Theses Medalls We require that your present in Our Name with your owne hands to those worthy Personages, as they are severally nominated, and to certifie to Vs who are remayning more in Our said County, which have deserved such Memorialls, to whom We shall thereupon accordingly confer the same." [sic]
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As Helen Farquhar separately summarised: "such evidences of loyalty were after the King's death a danger to the owners, and the temptation to melt the Gold was strong - although when their services had been called for by Charles, not only their plate, but their lives, had [often] been proffered for his cause.",
An equally compelling story now relates the history of this unique object. Evidently personal, likely a Royal presentation, or at the very least of close Royal association, genealogical research only solidifies its remarkable pedigree. Prior to its appearance at Messrs Sotheby in 1949, this prize was in the possession of spinster Margaret Warre. The third of four daughters by her clergyman father; her paternal grandmother heralded from a scion of the Calverts of Hunsdon House. Through a succession of Parliamentary Members and a childless-uncle, Felix Calvert MP was the grandson of Sir Francis Winnington, late Solicitor-General to His Majesty King Charles II. It is likely that his own father Major Winnington was the very same who surrendered the Royalist Garrison at Worcester during the Civil War.
His meteoric rise through influential court circles began with his appointment as standing counsel to Prince Rupert in the decade after being called to the Bar ex gratia. His license to practice from 9 February 1660, occurred just one week after General George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle had entered London to recall Parliament and initiate the articles of Restoration of King Charles II. An evidently loyal confidant to the Crown, he was soon appointed Attorney-General to the Duke of York, the future King James II (whose touch-piece is offered as lot 12). He proclaimed that 'he stood obliged to Prince James above all other persons'. On 17 December 1672, he was knighted. Two years later, the King appointed him Solicitor-General to the Crown, and by further personal request, as Member of Parliament for Windsor in 1677. This prestigious role granted Winnington enhanced political influence over the Royal Borough not least for its hosting the famous Royal residence frequently occupied at the Sovereign's pleasure. His appointment evidently reflected his familiarity with the Castle learned through his defence of Lord Mordaunt, her constable, against Parliamentary impeachment in 1666, a lesson that would prove useful later in life. Surviving fee-books at Stanford Court (Worcs) document Winnington's annual income during this period. Approaching 4,000l. per annum, this supreme salary entirely befits the exclusive grandeur of this award; whether he privately commissioned Rawlins or was the recipient of the King's benevolence remains tantalisingly unclear with either remaining conceivable and possible.
As hysteria swirled regarding the threat of the Catholic cause in England, Winnington found himself at increasing odds with his Royal patrons. Over the course of Spring 1678, his position on the matter evolved leaving to the following proclamations to the Chamber:
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"I am obliged to maintain the King's prerogative by the place I hold, and the privileges of the House as a Member of it."
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"If what I say be not acceptable to the House, I protest I speak it not out of favour to the Duke, but for the preservation of the Protestant cause. Now that this thing is brought on, let us do like honest men and Protestants. If we divide upon the question, the Papists will have more encouragement than the Duke ever gave them."
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Upon the second reading of the bill that originated from the committee on which he served, he voted it down, adding without apology:
"All these dangers, past and present, do arise from Popery; and how impossible it is it should be otherwise as long as there is a popish successor.... ",
However, in a piece of political subterfuge worthy of its own documentary, the convenient surfacing of "the Danby letters" at this time found him to be in direct contradiction with his own assurances to the House. Despite declaring the letters treasonable, the subsequent dissolution of Parliament led to his prompt dismissal from office as Solicitor-General. Returned to Parliament now as Member for Worcester, his fortunes swayed from ridicule to begrudging respect, often overcome by the extraordinarily political head-winds at play in 17th Century England as much as a bout of constitutionally-inspirational oratory. Despite railing against the Popish plotters and the looming Coronation of King James II, he declared a 'Regency Act' nonsense, for: "to make a man King and not suffer him to exercise kingly power is a contradiction". Until his passing in May 1700, he remained a staunch defender of the House and the dissemination of its rulings, for as he opined: "I think it not natural nor rational that the people who sent us hither should not be informed of our actions."
In life he was a skilled horse man; in death, his legacy was the commencement of an important political dynasty, very much worthy of this Royalist Gold Badge, as much as a splendid miniature by celebrated Royal artist Sir Peter Lely that also remained in the family possession into the 19th Century.
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Provenance,
From the Baumhauer Collection of British Medals,
Edward St George, Spink Auction 120, 9-10 July 1997, lot 399*,
Reverend Arnold Mallinson, Spink Auction 39, 7 December 1984, lot 107*,
Miss Agnes Margaret Warre (1864-1946), Sotheby's, 24 May 1949, lot 16 - "doubly pierced, very fine and very rare" - £9.10.0 [Spink for Mallinson],
Reverend Francis Warre (1834-1917), thence to his daughter,
Mary Caroline Felicia Calvert (1809-1895), thence to her son,
Nicolson Calvert, the Younger MP (1764-1841), thence to his daughter,
Nicolson Calvert, the Elder MP (1724-1793), of Hunsdon House, Co. Herts, died without issue; Estate to his nephew,
Felix Calvert MP (1693-1755), of Albury Hall, Co. Herts, thence to his son,
Mary Winnington (1673-1729), of Marcham, Co. Berks, thence to her eldest son,
Sir Francis Winnington (1634-1700), Solicitor-General to King Charles II, and Member of Parliament for Windsor, thence to his daughter,
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An oil-on-vellum miniature of this sitter is preserved in the National Portrait Gallery (NPG 305)

Estimate: £3000 - £5000