Great Britain: Boer War: United in the Cause of Freedom / Transvaal Souvenir (38mm)

Form:

Circular. White metal medal with and without loop. Silver medal sometimes with attached swivel boss for a ring to a red-white-blue ribbon suspension.

By:

A. Fenwick

Date:

1900

Ref:

AM: 35; Hern: 86; BHM: 3673; Fearon: 351.9; Laidlaw: 0046b;

Variations:

Size	Metal	Mass	Value
38.0 mm	Silver	25.0 gm	$170
38.0 mm	Silver with suspension	27,4 gm	$175
38.1 mm	Bronze	19.4 gm	$70
38.1 mm	White Metal	16.0 gm	$70
38.2 mm	White Medal with Loop	16.4 gm

Edge:

Plain.

Obverse:

Two shields inclined toward each other and overlapping. The left shield, representing the British Empire, is quartered with: (1) Star of India, (2) kangaroo – Australia, (3) scale balance – New Zealand and (4) beaver – Canada and with a small shield of the Cape Colony superimposed in the centre. On the right shield, the British Royal coat of arms. To the left, a garland with a rose (England), shamrocks (Ireland) and thistles (Scotland). To the right, a laurel branch. Above, the Imperial Crown. Two clasped hands across the divide between the shields at the bottom. On a ribbon below: “WE . SERVE . UNDER . ONE . CROWN”. Above the ribbon, and below the hands: “RD 355487”. Legend in ornate lettering above: “UNITED IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM” and below between stops: “WE DEFEND OUR EMPIRE”.

Reverse:

To the left, a sailor with rifle at attention; to the right, a soldier with rifle at the ready, stand guard over the British Union flag between them on a flagpole surmounted by a crown. Behind, two artillery pieces facing outwards and in the background, a ship behind the sailor and a tent behind the soldier. Legend in ornate lettering above divided by the flag pole: “TRANSVAAL (left) SOUVENIR (right) /1899 (left) 1900 (right)”. In the exergue in ornate letters: “THE QUEEN / GOD BLESS HER (in an arc)”. Signed on the left close to the rim: “FENWICK. DEL. F”. On the right near the rim: “RD 355487”.

Notes:

The later version of this medal.