MEDAL FROM CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE OFFERED AT BONHAMS
A Crimea Medal awarded to George Flowers of the 17th Lancers, who was killed in the Charge of the Light Brigade of 1854 will be offered by Bonhams in the Coins, Medals and Banknotes sale at Knightsbridge on December 15th. The medal is estimated to sell for £8,000 – 10,000.
The Charge of the Light Brigade, made famous by Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem, was a doomed charge by the light cavalry against the Russian artillery, in the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. It became a symbol of both heroic failure and devotion to duty. Nearly half the men in the charge, including George Flowers, were killed or wounded.
The Crimean War was the first time that reporters and photographers captured the events in a way that had never happened before. This brought the story of the Charge of the Light Brigade to the public’s attention only three weeks after it had happened and eyewitness accounts of the charge in the British media created enormous public interest.
Being sold alongside the medal is a photograph believed to have been taken in 1904, showing the son of George Flowers and his family commemorating his father.
www.bonhams.com/coins
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Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 27 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go towww.bonhams.com