Summary

Australia Victoria Melbourne
Medal - Melbourne 1854 Exhibition Tin Commemorative
Mint: Kangaroo Office
Other Details: This medal (38 mm diameter) was struck with tin from the Ovens River at the 1854 Melbourne Exhibition on a coin press brought to Australia by Reginald Scaife as part of the Kangaroo Office gold token venture. The medal features a view of the 1854 Exhibition Building which had been constructed on the site which would become the Mellbourne Mint in 1872. This medal was struck from the first die and has the characteristic die crack from near the top corner of the front flag on the building. The reverse offers the motto "The harvest of thy yesterday, the seed corn of thy tomorrow" in a floral wreath. The Exhibition opened on 17 December 1854 and ran for 30 days. Around 40,000 people attended - half of Melbourne's population. Melbourne erected its own first exhibition building for the occasion, at the site of the later Royal Mint in William Street. The design was based on that of the Crystal Palace in London, which had hosted the Great Exhibition only three years earlier, in 1851. Melbourne's exhibition building had 200 ornamental windows and was lit by 306 gaslights. The exhibition included a modest 428 exhibits, mainly local industrial and agricultural products. Some of these exhibits went to Paris for the 1855 Exhibition.

Physical Description

A tin medal (38 mm diameter) featuring a view of the front and side of the building with two flags flying, around above, MELBOURNE EXHIBITION; in exergue, 1854 / STRUCK IN THE BUILDING; the artist's name, W, BARKLEY is in small letters at the top left of the exergue. The reverse has the motto, THE HARVEST OF / THY YESTERDAY, / THE SEED CORN OF / THY MORROW; within a froral wreath and below a bunch of corn-ears held together by a ribbon.

Obverse Description

At centre, a view of the front and side of the building with two flags flying, around above, MELBOURNE EXHIBITION; in exergue, 1854 / STRUCK IN THE BUILDING; the artist's name, W, BARCLAY is in small letters at the top left of the exergue.

Reverse Description

At centre within a froral wreath and below a bunch of corn-ears held together by a ribbon the motto, THE HARVEST OF / THY YESTERDAY, / THE SEED CORN OF / THY MORROW;

Edge Description

Plain

Significance

This unofficial medal for the 1854 Melbourne Exhibition was designed by William Barclay. It is a crudely geometric architectural form, and was struck in tin from the Ovens River using an old hand press received in the same year from London-based medal firm W.J. Taylor. In contrast, the official medal was a high quality product prepared and stuck at the Royal Mint, London. It was neoclassical, with the figure of Brittania receiving offerings from primary industries. -Sharples, John. 1990. Medals as Art. Museum of Victoria and the Royal Australian Mint. -D. Tout-Smith 17/9/2003.

The Exhibition opened on 17 December 1854 and ran for 30 days. Around 40,000 people attended - half of Melbourne's population. The exhibition building, the site of the later Royal Mint in William Street, was based on the design of the Crystal Palace in London, which had hosted the Great Exhibition only three years earlier, in 1851. Melbourne's exhibition building had 200 ornamental windows and was lit by 306 gaslights. The exhibition included a modest 428 exhibits, mainly local industrial and agricultural products. Some of these exhibits went to Paris for the 1855 Exhibition.-Official Catalogue of the Melbourne Exhibition, 1854, in Connection with the Paris Exhibition, 1855. -D. Tout-Smith 18/12/2003.

More Information