November 2007 Medal Newsletter

AUCTION NEWS

Our final auction of 2007 was held yesterday, 22nd November, and some spectacular results were achieved. The sale started with a section dedicated to single campaign medals, including a number of rare 18th and early 19th Century Honourable East India Company Medals, the pick of which was a large silver medal for the Third Mysore War, which changed hands for £3,435. This was followed by the superb two clasp ‘Phoebe’ Naval General Service Medal awarded to Lieutenant Charles Prowett. Both the clasps (Phoebe 21 December 1797 and Phoebe 19 February 1801) are incredibly scarce, with only five claimants for the first clasp, and six for the second. Included with the medal was a miniature portrait of the recipient. Some keen bidding in the room and on the telephones took the final price up to £57,600, significantly above the pre-sale Estimate of £16,000-18,000. The section of single campaign medals was rounded off by two South Atlantic Medals, the first to Lance-Corporal S.P. Harding-Dempster, 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, who was Mentioned-in-Despatches for Mount Longdon, where Sergeant McKay, also of 3 Para, won the Victoria Cross. It was no surprise, therefore, that the medal sold for £5,620.
The Gallantry section was dominated by the superb and important 'Dhofar' C.B.E., Immediate 'Battle of the Imjin' M.C. Group of Seventeen to Brigadier 'Mike' Harvey, who commanded 'D' Company the 'Glorious Glosters' during the Battle and led the survivors of the 1st Battalion to safety after their position had been completely overwhelmed by the Chinese 198th Division; he went on to do two tours of Oman, the latter at the personal request of Sultan Qaboos, where he commanded the Brigade in Dhofar, including 22 SAS Regiment teams in operations against the rebel insurgents in 1971-72. The group, which graced the cover of the sale catalogue, had bidders both in the room and on the telephone, and was finally sold for a staggering £86,350, well above the top Estimate.

Perhaps the most visually pleasing lots in the sale were the Orders and Medals bestowed upon Sir Charles Stuart Bayley, G.C.I.E., K.C.S.I., I.S.O., first Lieutenant-Governor of Bihar and Orissa Provinces, India. Educated at Harrow, Bayley spent his entire career in India, and the honours bestowed upon him were a true reflection of his service. Top price predictably went to the G.C.I.E. Collar, and the total collection realised £40,645.

The sale ended with the Important collection of Honours and Awards bestowed upon General Thiebault Charles Maurice Janin (1862-1946), Commanding Officer of the Czech Legion, and one of the three most senior Allied Officers during the Allied Intervention in Russia, 1918-20, who was reported to have carried out of Russia the human remains and effects of Tsar Nicholas II and the Imperial Family. With Awards from nine different countries there were bidders from all over the world, and a house-record ten telephones were in operation. Bidding was intense, with a number of strong bids coming from the floor of the room as well. The top price of the day was the staggering £161,100 paid over the telephone for the Imperial Russian Order of the White Eagle, first class set of Insignia with Swords: a world-record price for this order at auction, and one of only a handful of military division sets to appear on the market in the last fifty years.

A Scarce Order of St. Anne First Class set of Insignia with Swords also sold well above Estimate, for £58,750, this time to a bidder in the room

In total, General Janin’s Orders and awards sold for an unbelievable £294,798.

Please note that all the prices shown include the Buyer’s Premium- For full details of the prices realised for the sale please Click here

The auction brought to a conclusion a very successful year for the Spink Medal Department. Our three sales for 2007 have seen 3121 lots come under the hammer, for a combined total of £2,437,189. What has been especially pleasing is the number of lots that have been bought via SpinkLive, our online bidding system, where the bidder can take part in the auction from the comfort of their own home or office, and can both see and hear the auctioneer in real time. If you have not used SpinkLive, why not check out the system on our website, www.spink.com

2008

Our Our Auction Calendar for 2008 has now been finalised. Our next sale is on the 24th April 2008, and already a number of properties have been consigned. Gallantry groups are well represented, chief amongst which is the rare Umbeyla 1863 'Crag Piquet' V.C. Group of Three to Captain H.W. Pitcher, 1st Punjab Infantry, who twice led an assault on the formidable Crag Piquet- he was wounded on each occasion. The Estimate for this group, one of only two Victoria Crosses given for the Umbeyla Campaign, is £80,000-100,000.

We also have the highly important G.C.B., K.B.E., Great War D.S.O., M.C. and Bar Group of Twenty-One to General Sir G.I. Thomas, Commanding Officer of the 43rd Western Division in North West Europe: his leadership spanned eleven months of continuous fierce fighting, from the bloody battles of Caen to the Richswald, via the long and heavily contested road to Nijmegen for the attempted relief of the Airborne Forces at Arnhem.

A Fine Gold C.B. Group of Six to Colonel C.W.N. Guinness, Seaforth Highlanders, has also been consigned. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches for his service during the Second Afghan War, 1878-80, where he served as Brigade Major to Brigadier-General H.T. Macpherson, V.C.; he was also Mentioned in Despatches for the Battle of Tel-El-Kebir, 13.9.1882.

One of the more unusual Campaign Group combinations is the C.B., C.M.G., Wana D.S.O. Group of Ten to Brigadier-General M.L. Hornby, York and Lancaster Regiment, Late Uganda Rifles, Late Punjab Infantry, who saw active service in both India and Africa at the end of the 19th Century, before serving on the Western Front during the Great War.

Amongst the single Campaign Medals already consigned, a selection are below:

Indian Mutiny 1857-58, one clasp, Defence of Lucknow (C. Griffin, 32nd L.I.)

British South Africa Company's Medal 1890-97, undated reverse, two clasps, Mashonaland 1890, Rhodesia 1896 (Tpr. C.G. Laurie, B.S.A.C.P.)

Queen's South Africa 1899-1902, three clasps, Orange Free State, Defence of Mafeking, Transvaal (Sergt: E.F. Taylor. Nesbitt's Horse.)

Naval General Service 1915-62, G.VI.R., two clasps, Yangtze 1949, Malaya (D/SSX. 818530 G.A. Wright. Ord. Smn. R.N.)

Between them these gallant men died of wounds during the Original Defence of Lucknow, policed the Limpopo River drifts at the time of the threatened Boer incursion, died during the Defence of Mafeking, and took part in H.M.S. Amethyst’s daring escape down the River Yangtze.

Details of other properties consigned to our April sale will be covered in future newsletters. The closing date for consignments for this sale is the middle of February, and the catalogue will be available at the end of March.

With best wishes,
The Medal Department.

Mark Quayle                                                    020 7563 4064
Oliver Pepys                                                     020 7563 4061
John Hayward (Consultant)                               020 7563 4049