Numismatic Notes Part 4

Numismatic Implications of the 1874 Watershed in Medal Manufacturing

The Sutlej Medal for the 1st Sikh War of 1845-46 was the first campaign issue designed to accommodate a standard suspension bar and any campaign or battle clasp required to be attached thereon, and thus became the model for any subsequent issues whether the bar was floreate, cusped or straight.
Prior to 1874 virtually all British war medals were struck at the Royal Mint but a large proportion of the manufacture of bars, clasps, the mounting and the finishing were, certainly after the advent of the new-style Sutlej award with up to three clasps, carried out by contractors and sub-contractors. These arrangements were made originally to alleviate some pressure of work from the Mint Die Department.

For some years the involvement of outside contractors had given rise to endless complaints which included the incompleteness of certain work, constant delays to the agreed date of delivery and to the most numerous complaint of all - bad workmanship. A Mint internal letter refers to ... 'manufacture of bars and clasps done in a most unsatisfactory manner' (Johnson & Nash) ... 'not more than 5000 bars and 8000 clasps have been supplied ... would be desirable if Mint would undertake this portion of work ' ... 'because at the present rate it would be years before Native Troops claims are disposed of' ....

This unfortunate and unsustainable state of affairs came to a head early in January 1874 when the Mint proposed to terminate the existing Johnson & Nash contract and decided that the supply of bars and clasps as well as that of all medals and the mounting thereof should be undertaken solely by the Mint .... 'the mounting and engraving of medals required in India to Natives will be done in that country as at present' .... (1874).
A Mint reply to a contractor seeking work states ... 'the Government has decided to undertake the entire manufacture of mounts and clasps for all medals and to go ahead to make necessary machinery' ... (9.3.1874). On 31.3.1874, the Mint formally terminated all outside contracts for the manufacture of mounts, clasps, and the finishing of war medals carried out on behalf of the War Office, Admiralty and the India Office. All outstanding work was transferred to Tower Hill.

One other important development emerged during this period.
A letter from the War Office to the Mint (27.1.1874) directs that ... 'the duty of inscribing the name of the recipient on the rim of the medal can be in future undertaken by the Controller of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich'... and asks for guidance regarding the size of type to be used, etc - the Mint reply (30.1.1874) suggests direct contact between itself and the Arsenal regarding inscribing. By 28.3.1874, a machine for 'inscribing' medals had been transferred from the Mint to Woolwich, and Selkirk of Brook Street, St Paul's, Birmingham was named as a reliable firm to supply steel type. At this stage the old contractors, feeling the cold wind of competition, were getting chirpy and a little disturbed - even L.C. Wyon wrote (14.5.1874) ... 'I charge the India Office only sixpence each for lettering the medals [Europeans], the inscriptions on which are punched by hand ... suggested price should be one shilling' .... Johnson & Nash queried in January about the withdrawal of work which they had been doing for nearly 20 years - they apologised for the delays and hoped new prices could be arranged.
Suffice it to say that, with the exception of Johnson & Nash and a number of sub-contractors, the new medal manufacturing and naming arrangements were most acceptable to all other parties especially the Exchequer.

The first medal produced entirely at the Royal Mint and named at the Royal Arsenal was for the Ashantee Campaign of 1873-74. As a result of the circumstances that had prevailed with previous issues, all aspects of its production, which took no less than forty different operations, were closely monitored by Mint Artificers and Die Department Officers.

One of the objectives of the Mint operatives was to stabilise the claw and bar suspension, which on a number of previous issues had worked loose and had a tendency to slide around the circumference of the medal, or just dropped off completely. This was achieved by piercing the claw and medal from one side to the other and securing the whole with a silver rivet or pin. The circular head of the 'rivet' is visible from both sides of the claw especially when magnified (see illustration a).

Not only was the suspension problem resolved for the Ashantee Medal and a number of subsequent issues but the 'new operation' inadvertently provided the medal enthusiast with an effective technical point which has helped resolve a number of authenticity problems. It provides a measure of numismatic awareness when negotiating for exciting medals 'in the field'.

1. The riveted claw (see illustration a) was used for the Ashantee War Medal 1873-74; all South Africa issues 1877-79; Afghanistan 1878-80; Egypt 1882-89; North West Canada 1885; East and West Africa 1887-1890; British South Africa Company's Medal 1890-97; Central Africa 1891-98; India General Service Medal 1854 ‹ post 1874 issues; India (General Service) Medal 1895-1902; Khedive's Sudan 1896-1908 etc.; Gallantry, Long Service and Meritorious Service awards, the Police Jubilee Medals 1887-97 and all other post 1874 awards with the double claw style.

The absence of the riveted claw on a post-1874 issue requires closer scrutiny; its absence could mean an unofficial replacement or repair or it could also mean an unofficially 'adjusted' medal prepared with an intent to deceive - everything on such a medal should be examined. Some recent Rorke's Drift and Isandhlwana awards with falsified edge details carried false claws without rivets.

2. If a professionally executed riveted claw occurs on the Sutlej, Punjab, South Africa 1835-53, certain issues of the India General Service 1854, Baltic, Crimea, Indian Mutiny, China 1856-60, the New Zealand issues 1845-66, and a number of Gallantry, Long Service and miscellaneous awards prior to 1874 the medal is almost certainly an official late issue and there will probably be other numismatic features to support this. I remember a regimental museum having on record that in 1890 a number of dismounted Crimea medals were sent to the Mint for repair!! - they were riveted - perhaps the odd recipient sent his pre-1874 award in as well.
The Canada General Service Medal 1866-70 carries the riveted claw - this retrospective award wasn't issued until the close of the nineteenth century, hence the rivet.

'Suspension Re-affixed'?
A cataloguer's observations made in good faith usually heralds a reduced value dependent of course upon the degree of defect. Occasionally, however, the 'suspension re-affixed' label financially reward the vigilant....
Once again I will have to refer to those issues between the Sutlej Medal, inclusive and the New Zealand War Medal, inclusive. This of course was the 'naughty period', when the medal contractors to the Mint were getting a lot of stick for, amongst other things, bad workmanship.
Those who have read my earlier notes in this Newsletter will now be painfully aware of the famous post-1874 silver rivet inserted through the suspension claw whereas the earlier issues on the face of it had little to keep medal and suspension together.
However the contractors did their best to remedy the unstable pieces. Therefore, what is not generally known or understood, is that before being mounted every campaign medal from the Sutlej to the New Zealand issue including all the classic Naval and Military General Service Medals, all the Army of India issues etc were officially scratched on the rim at 12 o'clock, brushed with flux, the claw (with bar) soldered to the medal and then tightened under pressure.

Dependent upon the contractor or operative some scratching became gouging (see illustration b) and a minor solder application became a major blob which sometimes exuded from both sides of the claw. A number of these slightly overdone but official workings appear sometimes as 'Suspension Re-affixed' .