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Medal - Burke & Wills, Australia, 1864 Reg. No: NU 20095

Summary:: Australia
Burke and Wills 1861 (AD)
Mint: Stokes, T.
Other Details: Thomas Stokes struck this medal about 1864 to commemorate the 1861 Burke and Wills expedition. The medal appears to be based on the famous sculpture in Melbourne by Charles Summers in 1864-5, and may in fact commemorate the sculpture rather than the expedition itself. The medal was struck on the aging W.J. Taylor press that Stokes had bought in 1857.
Previous Collections: National Gallery of Victoria.
Acquisition Information:: Transfer from National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), 1976

Discipline:	Numismatics
Dimensions:	37 mm (Width), 38 mm (Diameter)

Tagged with:	australian exploration, burke wills expedition 1860-1861
Themes this item is part of:	Public Life & Institutions Collection, Science & Measurement Collection, Flagstaff Observatory, 1858-1863, Stokes & Son, Medal Makers, Melbourne, Victoria & Sydney, New South Wales
Primary Classification:	MEDALS
Secondary Classification:	Commemorative
Tertiary Classification:	australian exploration
Series:	Commemorative
DateEra:	1864 AD
Obverse Description:	Copy of statue of Burke & Wills around above, BURKE & WILLS In exergue, []A SC [T] S M
Reverse Description:	Around rim the legend, IN COMMEMORATION OF AUSTRALIA BEING FIRST CROSSED at centre in eight lines, BY/BURKE/WILLS/KING/AND/ /GRAY/IN/1861
Edge Description:	Plain
Inscriptions:	Plain (edge) BURKE & WILLS/[]A SC [T] S M Statue of Burke & Wills (obverse) IN COMMEMORATION OF AUSTRALIA BEING FIRST CROSSED/BY/BURKE/WILLS/KING/AND/ /GRAY/IN/1861(reverse)
Shape:	Round
Material:	White metal
Issued By:	Australia
Mint:	Stokes (Mint)
Person Depicted:	Robert Burke
Person Depicted:	William Wills
Person Named:	Mr John King
Person Named:	Charles Gray
Previous Collection:	National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Numismatics Collection, pre 1976
References:	Car 1861/1
Bibliography:	[Catalogue] Sharples, John P. 1990. Medals as Art: Australia and the Meszaros Tradition.