1850 Appointment, Master of British Royal Mint

World Coinage1850 Document with Enormous Wax Seal for the Appointment of the Master of the British Royal Mint

1850, Huge Official Seal and Appointment to Office, as Director of the Tower Mint in London, for Sir John Frederick William Hershel, Choice About Uncirculated.
This magnificent, huge, vellum document and official seal of Queen Victoria, is the original appointment of Sir John Herschel as Master of the Tower Mint (Royal Mint) in London. The appointment document, measuring 21" x 30," has ornately decorated printed borders on three sides, with docketing and signatures of 4 government officials written at the bottom. The appointment statement is handwritten in old script, with the name of the appointee and some other entries in an 1800's cursive script. There is a 2" x 1.5," blue, £100 British tax stamp in the upper left corner. The beautiful wax seal, measuring 6.25" in diameter and 1" thick, is attached to the document by blue and gold cords. The obverse of this tan colored seal depicts Queen Victoria, with crown, orb and scepter, seated on her throne, flanked by 2 female attendants. A coat of arms appears below, and the whole is surrounded by a wreath. The reverse of the seal shows the Queen seated side-saddled on a powerful horse. This seal is housed for protection in a circular black tin case with light blue padding on the top and bottom. This fragile wax seal is in excellent condition, aside from some chips on the outer edges. The document attached to this seal is also in excellent condition with a few tiny holes along some of the folds. Absolutely unique and priceless.

Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871) was an English astronomer, chemist, writer, and one of the early developers of the new field of photography. The only son of the famous astronomer Sir William Herschel (1738-1822), John Herschel begame a prominent figure in 19th-century British science, making significant contributions to mathematics. For a time he worked as an astronomer with his father, and later moved to South Africa for 4 years to map the southern skies. His work in chemistry led him to photography, where he developed the concept of positive and negative images, and was the first to photograph the spectra. He received a number of medals and other honors, and was appointed Master of the Royal Mint (London) in December 1850. He resigned that post in February 1855.

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