Great Britain: End of the Mail Service to South Africa. Union Line / Union-Castle Line
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Form:
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Circular. Proof-like
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By:
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Spink & Son Ltd. |
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Date:
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1977 |
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Ref:
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AM2: 592; Laidlaw: 0344;
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Variations:
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| Size | Metal | Mass | Value |
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| 38.4 mm | Silver | 30.8 gm | $145 | | 38 mm | Gold Plated Bronze | 24.7 gm | $25 |
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Edge:
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Plain. Silver medal stamped: "SILVER" and the issue number. This medal stamped: "820".
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Obverse:
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Starboard broadside view of the sailing ship R.M.S. Dane with: “1857” in large letters below. Legend above between stops: “UNION LINE” and below between stops: “SOUTH AFRICAN MAIL SERVICE”.
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Reverse:
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Bow and starboard view of the steamship R.M.S. Windsor Castle with: “1977” in large letters below. Legend above between stops: “UNION-CASTLE LINE” and below between stops: “SOUTH AFRICAN MAIL SERVICE”.
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Notes:
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The silver medal comes inside a blue case lined with white silk and blue velvet. The bronze medal comes inside a similar red case. On the inside of the lid, two Royal warrants from the Queen (left) and the Duke of Edinburgh (right) and below that: "SPINK & SON, LTD / 6-7, KING STREET, ST.JAMES'S, / LONDON, S.W.1.".
The medals come with an A5 sheet of paper with a type-written description of the medal on one side and a history of the mail service on the other. For the silver medal, the issue number is hand-written on the sheet. The sheet also records that 1,000 medals were issued in silver and that an unlimited number were made in gold plated bronze.
The medal commemorates 120 years of the ocean mail service between the Great Britain and South Africa. The service was inaugurated by the R.M.S. Dane when she sailed from Southampton on 15th September 1857. The final sailing of the large passenger mail ships was in 1977. The name of the company was changed from Union Line to Union-Castle Line in 1900, during the Boer War, when it merged with the Castle Mail Packets Company.
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