LONDON – There’s an expression in the antiques business, usually employed where fakes are concerned, that goes as follows: “If something appears too good to be true, it probably is.” I guess the same could be said of life in general.
The “free” bronze Waterloo Campaign Medal to commemorate the bicentenary of the 1815 battle that saw Napoleon’s final defeat – you may have seen advertisements for it on British TV – is neither fake nor the offer anything less than true. If it is, I’ll be sending mine back, which is a clearly defined option if I’m not highly satisfied with it. The London Mint Office, not connected to the Royal Mint, says nine out of 10 customers are satisfied with the medal, which is pictured below.
The only catch, if you could call it that, is that postage costs £2.50 and applying for the freebie online invites a flurry of invitations to add other Royal Mint Waterloo commemoratives to the order, some of which are seriously pricey.
I resisted and restricted myself to the Official Waterloo 200 Medal folder, which gives historical background information, secures the medal in a plastic bubble to protect it and, perhaps most importantly, contains a certificate of authenticity from the Queen’s medalists, the Worcestershire Medal Service. Total cost: £5.45. “Only” 500,000 of the free medals are being circulated, and only one per household, so perhaps they will prove to be an investment … for the tercentenary, maybe. For anyone looking to make a real investment in Waterloo memorabilia, there are many more serious contenders for a collector’s cash, at all prices levels, some of which are pictured here, like this 16 bore flintlock officer’s pistol carried at Waterloo by William Beckwith of Trimdon, County Durham, which sold for £3,200. Photo Thomas Del Mar Auctioneers.
Or take the actual military medal, the first ever to be issued by the British government to each and every soldier present during the campaign and awarded to anyone who had taken part in the battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras, both on June 16, 1815 and Waterloo on June 18.
It was also the first campaign medal to be awarded to the next of kin of men killed in action and the first on which the recipient’s name was impressed around the edge. This was done by machine prior to presentation and is a boon to collectors and military historians allowing them to trace the career of each individual recipient, spelling mistakes, for there were some, permitting.
The medal was designed by Birmingham-born Thomas Wyon (1767-1830) chief engraver to the Royal Mint. Heads, or obverse to give the numismatic title, shows the head of the Prince Regent, later George IV, wearing the laurel leaves of victory and the legend “George P. Regent.” Tails – the reverse – depicts the winged figure of Victory seated on a pedestal with an olive branch in her left hand. Above her is the word “Wellington.” Below that is “Waterloo” and the date of the famous battle. It was issued with a crimson ribbon with narrow, dark blue edge down either side.
Interestingly, the medal was not popular when it was first issued. Veterans of the campaign, particular those who had faced the might of Napoleon’s armies throughout the seven years of the Peninsular War, were angry that it was awarded to those who had joined the ranks and fought only in the latter stages.
It was also awarded to others, such as Gen. Colville’s division, which was stationed on the right of the battlefield at Waterloo, and never fired a single shot. Indeed, some Waterloo veterans refused to wear their campaign medal in support of their Peninsular War comrades.
More desirable to some collectors is this sabretache, a cavalry officer’s pouch, of the 10th Hussaars inscribed with battle honors for Peninsula, Waterloo and Sevastopol. It sold for £300. Photo Thomas Del Mar Auctioneers.
There was a time too when collectors were somewhat dismissive of it. So many were awarded, some 37,500, it is only relatively recently that a combination of scarcity and the current commemorative celebrations has opinion shifted.
What makes any medal, or group of medals, valuable is its provenance, that is the record of ownership and the history connected to it. Most often the auctioneer’s description of a lot is brief and to the point. After all, he has hundreds of medals to sell per sale and sadly most are either from otherwise anonymous heroes or else from soldiers whose acts of bravery are lost in the mists of military history.
Consequently, a medal awarded to a soldier who saw action at Waterloo in 1815, even though it might be worth £1,000-£1,500, is confined to a terse one-line entry. However, the existence of the recipient’s name around the edge does allow the researcher to check muster rolls, which can confirm the soldier in question was present and that he served, say, in the Grenadiers. Those awarded to officers can fetch considerably more.
A higher value was realized on this officer’s short-tailed coatee worn by Capt. John Hart of the 52nd (The Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry), which sold for £13,000. Photo Thomas Del Mar Auctioneers.
In 2012, London specialist auctioneers Morton & Eden sold what was thought to be the largest single collection of 59 individual Waterloo medals. It raised a total of £151,608. Part of the collection of Waterloo Medals sold in 2012 is pictured below. The pair to James Stride is in the center of the bottom row. Photo Morton & Eden Auctioneers.
The most valuable proved to be that awarded to Troop Sgt. Maj. James Russell (1798-1864), who served with Capt. J. Poole’s Dragoons. It was sold with photocopies of documents taken from his statement of service; an examination of invalid soldiers done in October 1821 and his pension record, all of which built an historic picture of the recipient and the medal’s provenance. It sold for £6,800.
Also of note was another, sold with a Military General Service Medal of 1848 with clasps for Egypt and Talavera awarded to Troop Sgt. Maj. James Stride a with the 23rd Light Dragoons.
In 1801, Stride, from Ringwood, in Hampshire, saw action at the Battle of Alexandria in Egypt and at the Battle of Talavera in 1809, hence the two clasps. In the latter, the 23rd made their famous charge against three lines of enemy cavalry.
In the Waterloo Campaign, on June 16, 1815, the 23rd was rushed from Brussels to Quatre Bras and during the following day they were involved in covering the retreat of Allied troops.
At Waterloo itself they were positioned in the rear of Halkett’s 5th Infantry Brigade, making several important charges with a high degree of “steadiness and determined bravery.”
In the evening, as the Allied advance began, Henry Paget, Lord Uxbridge, rode up to the 23rd’s commander, Maj. Latour, requesting a troop horse to replace his own mount, which was spent from the day’s action. Latour complied “by dismounting Sergeant-Major Stride, giving his Lordship the sergeant major’s mare.”
Some time later there followed the famous and often quoted exchange between Lord Uxbridge and the Duke of Wellington, when a cannonball struck the former’s knee. Uxbridge remarked, “By God, sir, I’ve lost my leg!” To which Wellington replied, “By God, sir, so you have!”
The pair of medals sold for £5,800.
