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Mint:
London
Artist:
Wyon, William
Artist:
Wyon, Benjamin
Ruler:
Victoria (1837-1901)
Ruler:
Victoria regina
(With the title of)
Rivalry between Britain and Russia over India, and between Russia and France over the protection of Christians under Ottoman rule, led in the 1850s to a focus of diplomatic attention on the ailing Ottoman Empire. British diplomatic successes led to a Russian attempt to annexe the Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia from the Ottomans, and the Russian destruction of the Ottoman Black Sea fleet when Turkey went to war in retaliation. Britain and France moved in support of the Ottomans and although the Danubian provinces were returned the allies' conditions for peace far exceeded this. The Russian refusal to meet these conditions led to full-scale international war in late 1854.
The war was mainly composed of allied attempts to reduce Russian fortresses on the Black Sea (and also on the Baltic), of which only the lengthy siege of Sevastopol was successful, but Russia was unable to force withdrawal on the allies and so Tsar Nicholas I made peace in 1856.
An early allied success was the defeat at Alma in 1854 of a larger Russian army that had been sent to oppose the initial allied landings. This medal bears the bar for participation in that battle, and for action during the long siege of Sevastopol.
It is unnamed, as were most medals in haste to get them to the still-fighting army, and the recipient's identity is unknown. Lester Watson purchased the medal from the dealer Gifford at some point before 1928.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, acquired before 1928
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 35.7 mm
Weight: 42.28 g
Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester
1855 - 1856
Inscription present: Bust of Victoria facing left
Inscription present: Roman warrior being wreathed by flying Victory
Accession number: CM.1183-2009
Primary reference Number: 141277
Watson Catalogue: 70
Ordering: M-0066
Previous object number: LW.0066
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Coins and Medals
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Crimean War Medal" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141277 Accessed: 2024-12-22 21:59:27
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141277
|title=Crimean War Medal
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 21:59:27|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-141277
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0066_281_29.jpg"
alt="Crimean War Medal"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Crimean War Medal</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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