A single-owner collection of 79 medals includes an array of awards charting the gradual conquest of India, together with other foreign adventures such as the 1st Anglo-Chinese War. The forces of the Honourable East India Company feature heavily in this collection. The Seringapatam Medal shown left was awarded in 1808 to company forces and Indian allies who took part in the 1799 campaign against Tipu Sultan. On the obverse it shows the British Lion defeating ‘the Tiger of Mysore’.
W&W militaria specialist Ned Cowell says: “This is the large version of the medal (48mm), as struck in England by Matthew Boulton at the Soho Mint in Birmingham (a slightly smaller version was struck later in Calcutta) so we can surmise it was presented to someone serving either in the Madras or Bombay presidency, or in HM’s forces. These are never named.”
Cowell adds: “Silver medals were for captains and subalterns; but this one appears to retain traces of gilding, and the silver gilt ones were for field officers and general staff.”
The medal is estimated at £400-600.
