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ARCTIC MEDAL 1815-1855 Silver medal awarded by Queen Victoria, inscribed with the name Joseph Organ, Ice Qr. Master, image 1
ARCTIC MEDAL 1815-1855 Silver medal awarded by Queen Victoria, inscribed with the name Joseph Organ, Ice Qr. Master, image 2
Lot 203

ARCTIC MEDAL 1815-1855
Silver medal awarded by Queen Victoria, inscribed with the name Joseph Organ, Ice Qr. Master,

26 February 2020, 13:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £3,187.50 inc. premium

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ARCTIC MEDAL 1815-1855

Silver medal awarded by Queen Victoria, inscribed with the name Joseph Organ, Ice Qr. Master, the reverse showing a three-masted barque amidst icebergs with a sledge party in the foreground, the words 'For Arctic Discoveries' above and '1815-1855' below, the obverse with a bust of Queen Victoria wearing a tiara and the words 'Victoria Regina', beaded borders on each face, edge engraved 'Joseph Organ/ Ice Qr. Master/ Enterprise/ Resolute/ Assistance', suspended by a star and swivel loop attachment, one or two small edge nicks, otherwise fine, octagonal form, diameter 33mm.

Footnotes

The British Admiralty created this evocative Arctic Medal in 1857 from a design by Leonard Charles Wyon, awarding it, unnamed, "to all Persons, of every rank and class, who have been engaged in the several Expeditions to the Arctic Regions, whether of discovery or search, between the years 1818 and 1855". This included those involved in the on-going search for the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845-1848.

Joseph Organ was born in Stoke Damerel, Devon in December 1824, entering the Royal Navy in 1843. He served on the Enterprise as Quarter-Master (1848-49), on the Resolute as Captain's Coxswain and Ice Quarter-Master (1850-51), and on the Assistance as Ice Quarter-Master (1852-54). It was during Organ's spell on the Resolute that it sailed the eastern Arctic with three other ships, and found traces of Franklin's first winter camp on Beechey Island.

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