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Stokes & Son, Medal Makers, Melbourne, Victoria & Sydney, New South Wales
Thomas Stokes was born in Edgeburston, Birmingham, England, in 1831. He was apprenticed to a diesinker, and migrated to Australia in search of gold in the 1850s. He did not succeed, but returned to his trade as a diesinker and button maker. In 1856 he established a successful business at 15 Mincing Lane, Melbourne, and soon moved to larger permises at 115 Flinders Lane.
In 1857 Stokes acquired a press from W.J. Taylor and began to mint large numbers of tradesmen's tokens, some 82 varieties in all (this has more recently been contested). He also commenced the Australian Medallic Issues. Within a short time the business moved again, to 100 Collins Street. In 1873 Stokes took a partner, Martin, and the business was re-named Stokes & Martin. It added silverware to its product line, but the new direction was not well received.The business relocated to 29 Little Collins Street, where in 1893 a disastrous fire damaged a large portion of the business. Unfortunately Martin had forgotten to renew the fire insurance policy, and the partnership was dissolved as a result. Stokes rebuilt the business as Stokes & Son.
The business became a proprietary concern in 1911, re-named Stokes & Son Pty Ltd. Its medals ceased being artistically significant, although remained technically sound. It began to focus on mass-produced medals at competitive prices, rapidly produced with insufficient time to develop artistic designs.
In 1935 the business moved to Albert Street, Brunswick, and in 1962 Stokes became a public company, renamed Stokes (Australasia) Pty Ltd. Today [2005] the business is located in Ringwood.
References:
Carlisle, L.J. (1983). Australian Commemorative Medals and Medalets from 1788. B & C Press Pty Ltd, Sydney.
Sharples, John P. (1990). Medals as Art: Australia and the Meszaros Tradition, p.16.
Stokes, Tom (1974). 'A Short History of Stokes Limited.' Australian Coin Review. August, pp.15-16.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 10) 1359 items
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Medal - Grand United Order of Oddfellows, Australia
Australia Mint: Stokes and Sons Gold/ enamel medal manufactured by Stokes and Sons, Melbourne on behalf of the Grand United Order of Oddfellows, Friendly Society.
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 0 -
Badge - Ford Australia, Employee M 1230, Victoria, circa 1930s
Ford Motor Company Geelong early employee badge Stokes with pin soldered to reverse. This item is believed to be an identity badge issued to Ford employees at the Geelong manufacturing ...
Images: 2 -
Badge - Commemorative, Australian Hibernian Society, Australia, 1914
Commemorative Badge issued by the Australian Hibernian Society in 1914. It was manufactured by Stokes & Sons, Melbourne. The Hibernian Australian Catholic Benefit Society was a church-b ...
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Badge - Australia's Commonwealth, Australia, 1899
Sterling silver and enamel badge minted by Stokes & Sons, Melbourne in 1899. The badge would have been worn by a supporter of Federation. Although the Commonwealth of Australia Constitu ...
Images: 4 -
Photograph - Stokes Australia Ltd Exhibit, The Melbourne International Centenary Exhibitio ...
Colour photograph of the Hon Angus Ogilvy visiting the exhibit of Stokes Australia Ltd at the Melbourne International Centenary Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbou ...
Images: 1 -
Photograph - Stokes Australia Ltd Exhibit, The Melbourne International Centenary Exhibitio ...
Colour photograph of the Hon Angus Ogilvy being presented with the Exhibition's Gold Commemorative Medallion while visitng the exhibit of Stokes Australia Ltd at the Melbourne Internati ...
Images: 1 -
Photograph - Stokes Australia Ltd Exhibit, The Melbourne International Centenary Exhibitio ...
Colour photograph of the Stokes Australia Ltd exhibit at the Melbourne International Centenary Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne, between 23 September and 5 O ...
Images: 1 -
Medal - MacRobertson International Air Race, Victoria, Australia, 1934
Gold medal awarded to Charles James Melrose, the only Australian pilot to win a prize in the Melbourne Centenary Air Race. The Melbourne Centenary Air Race, also known as the MacRobert ...
Images: 2 -
Medal - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative, City of Brighton, Victoria, Austra ...
Australia Victoria Brighton Coronation of Elizabeth II 1953 (AD) Mint : Stokes
From: Brighton, Australia Images: 2 -
Medal - City of Bendigo Centenary, Victoria, Australia, 1951
Australia Victoria Bendigo Medal - City of Bendigo Centenary 1949 (AD) Mint: Stokes
From: Bendigo, Australia Images: 2
