VICTORIA AND ALBERT 1840

[constanius]

 

Marriage Medal;

Obv. Conjoined bare heads of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria left, within beaded circle. VICTORIA AND ALBERT 1840

Rev. Head of Britannia left, within beaded circle. POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION LONDON

 

BHM#1917 WM. 28mm N. by A. J. STOTHARD(Medal Engraver to the Queen)

 

This piece was very probably struck on site for visitors to the Polytechnic Institution in Regent Street, London; the building was opened in 1837. Medals sold at exhibitions(at this time) had to be small and in soft metal, so they would come up in a single stroke. A print(1838) shows a screw press in the middle of the polytechnic's hall.

 

The only thing of note is the overstamped 4 over a 3 in the date.

[Art]

Nice medal. Is there a reason for the overdate?

[constanius]

Good question Art. Seeing as the '0' looks normal I do not think it was to change a 1837, 1838 or 1839 dated medal to 1840 as you would then expect to see some sign of that under the '0'. I think it must have just been purely a mistake. I am open to suggestions though.

 

PS. There is no earlier medal recorded either.

[ccg]

Unusual and very neat!

[YeOldeCollector]

Good question Art. Seeing as the '0' looks normal I do not think it was to change a 1837, 1838 or 1839 dated medal to 1840 as you would then expect to see some sign of that under the '0'. I think it must have just been purely a mistake. I am open to suggestions though.

 

PS. There is no earlier medal recorded either.

 

 

Could it not be that the medal was originally struck with the date just reading 183 and that they were to add the last number when they knew the date but did not think that the medal would be in production/thought long enough until the forties?

[constanius]

Could it not be that the medal was originally struck with the date just reading 183 and that they were to add the last number when they knew the date but did not think that the medal would be in production/thought long enough until the forties?

 

Queen Victoria did not even propose to Albert till 20^th Oct. 1839 so, given the time for the invitations & other arrangements to be made, early in 1840 must have been the earliest to have the wedding, and because Albert is also on the medal it should not have been dated earlier.

 

That said, the Polytechnic was opened in 1837 and there certainly is the possibility that Albert was added to an earlier medal just with Victoria(look at the picture & imaging what it would look like minus Albert's image, looks balanced), that would leave the Inscription VICTORIA AND ALBERT problem.

 

So if the dies originally had just Victoria's head with no inscription and the date '183' leaving the year to be added, that could be the answer. I just need to find such a medal to prove that theory, just because there is not one in BHM does not mean such a medal does not exist.

 

So either, most likely, just a bungled date or a multi year die with Albert added. Thanks for the suggestion Clive.