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McArthur Bequest
Image: Medal - Eight Hours Day,1884 AD
Source: Museum Victoria
George McArthur (1842-1903) was born in Linlithgow, Scotland, in 1842 and migrated to Australia in 1852 with his parents and three siblings. His father established a bakery in Maldon, a town in the central Victorian goldfields, and George ran the business in the 1870s and 1880s. He also travelled widely, travelling around the world in his 20s, and again in the 1880s. He amassed a large collection of early printed books, documents, coins and tokens and other artefacts.
In 1903, shortly before his death, McArthur revised his will to bequeath his books to the University of Melbourne and coins and other artefacts to the Trustees of the Public Library, Gallery and Museum. The artefacts bequest included 1357 coins, 575 tokens, 894 medals, 303 badges, 201 ethnographic items. 41 guns and weapons, and other miscellaneous items.
References:
Mary Lugton. (1985). The Library of a Victorian Pioneer, George McArthur, 1842-1903: an Exhibition of Books from his Bequest to the University of Melbourne. Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne
The Baker of Maldon. (2003). A Baillieu Library exhibition, curated by Ian Morrison. University of Melbourne.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 21 - 30) 490 items
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Coin - Halfpenny, George IV, Great Britain, 1826
Copper coin; Denomination: Halfpenny Royal Mint, London George IV, 2nd Issue.
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Coin - Halfcrown, George III, Great Britain, 1819
Silver coin; Denomination: Halfcrown Royal Mint, London King George III (1760-1820), 2nd Issue
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Coin - Penny, Cnut, England, 1023-1029
Silver coin; Denomination: Penny London Mint Cnut (1016- 1035) King of All England Moneyer: Brunman; Type: Pointed Helmet Penny (1023-1029) Cnut became king of England when he defeate ...
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Coin - 1 Penny, Bermuda, 1793
1 Penny, Issued by, Bermuda, 1793. Minted at Soho, Birmingham. Obverse die by Droz
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Token - 1 Penny, Sir Philip Gibbs, Barbados, 1788
1 Penny token, Issued by, Sir Philip Gibbs, Barbados, 1788. Gibbs Plantation Token Minted at Hancock, Birmingham
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Coin - 1 Dollar, Hong Kong, 1867
1 Dollar, Issued by, Hong Kong, 1867 Minted by Hong Kong Mint
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Coin - 1 Shilling, George IV, Great Britain, 1825
Silver coin; Denomination: Shilling Royal Mint, London King George IV (1820-1830), 2nd Issue The shilling is a 12 pence coin.
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Coin - Groat, Charles II, Great Britain, 1660-1669
Silver coin; Denomination: Groat Tower Mint, London King Charles II (1660-1685) The last of the hammered coinage and the first of the specifically struck coins for the Maundy ceremony ...
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Coin - Halfcrown, George III, Great Britain, 1817
Silver coin; Denomination: Halfcrown Royal Mint, London King George III (1760-1820) A severe deficiency of silver coins in circulation in Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centur ...
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Coin - Sixpence, Queen Anne, England, Great Britain, 1707
Silver coin; Denomination: sixpence Edinburgh Mint Queen Anne (1702-1714) The letter E below the bust records that this coin was struck at the Edinburgh mint. The legend reads as a sin ...
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