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Auction: 25124 - Spink Numismatic e-Circular 43: British and World Coins and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 366

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:


1. The Council Medal
2. The Prize Medal
3. The Exhibitor's Medal
4. The Juror's Medal
5. The Services Medal


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.



This Council Medal was awarded in 1851 for the following:


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.'



The fifth medal, awarded in 1874, was issued within Division III, Class XIV, for recent scientific inventions and new discoveries of all kinds.




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