The time was right to do something stupid again...
MrEureka
Posts: 24,253 ✭✭✭✭✭
Every now and then, I buy something that I completely don't need, and would be better off without. Wouldn't have it any other way!
Cataloged by DNW as follows:
Royal Geographical Society, David Livingstone Bearer's Medal, 1874, a silver award by A.B. Wyon, bust of David Livingstone three-quarters right, rev. legend in eight lines, named (Maganga – Faithful To The End), 37mm (Storer 2229; Fearon 325.2; E 1637; cf. Magor 403). Minor surface marks, otherwise very fine and toned, extremely rare, less than 10 specimens now believed extant, four of which are in institutions [British Museum, Livingstone Museum, Zambia, Blantyre Museum, Malawi, and the Royal Geographical Society]; with clip and ring for suspension £3,000-4,000
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Maganga, listed as recipient no. 35 on the medal roll prepared in the British Consulate in Zanzibar, was one of the party sent up to Livingstone by Henry Stanley in 1872. He is shown as "away with Arab traders" in August 1875, but is known to have met Stanley in the interior in May 1876. Described by Stanley as a tall Mynamwezi, and initially as "a native of Mkwenkwe, a strong faithful servant, an excellent pagazi, with an irreproachable temper", Stanley later tempered his opinion by saying that "he...and his weakly-bodied tribe...were ever falling sick." He added that "on approaching a village the temper of whose people might be hostile to us, Maganga would commence his song, with the entire party joining in the chorus, by which mode we knew whether the natives were disposed to be friendly or hostile."
The story of the missionary and explorer David Livingstone is one of the great epic tales of the Victorian age. Beginning in 1841, his career of African exploration was divided into three phases, the high point of the final chapter, to locate the source of the Nile, being his historic meeting with Henry Morton Stanley at Ujiji on 10 November 1871. After spending four months together, Stanley left Livingstone on 14 March 1872 at Unyanyembe (Tabora) where he remained until the 56 native porters and fresh supplies which Stanley had sent up from the coast arrived to reinforce the expedition. Reaching Lake Tanganyika in October, Livingstone then made for Lake Bangweulu but by the time he arrived there in February 1873 he was seriously ill. Pressing on despite rapidly deteriorating health, towards the end of April he could go no further; his servants built a hut to shelter him at Ilala where he died in the early morning of 1 May. After three days of mourning, his bearers decided unanimously to embalm their master's body and take it back down to the coast from whence it could be returned to England for burial. Going first to Unyanyembe, where they rested for a month, relays of porters carried the body through swamp, desert and forest, eventually reaching the port of Bagamoyo in February 1874. On 18 April 1874 David Livingstone was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey and on 22 June of the same year the Council of the Royal Geographical Society resolved to award a special medal to all those native servants who had carried Livingstone's body halfway across Africa the previous year. Commissioned from J.S. & A.B. Wyon, 60 silver medals were struck and sent to Zanzibar for distribution. By the time they arrived at the end of June 1875 most of Livingstone's bearers had long since dispersed, including 33 who had joined Stanley's Anglo-American Expedition of 1874-7. In due course, however, many of the recipients received their medals and the details are contained in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London. For further information and the full medal roll, see Faithful to the End by Fred Pridmore and D.H. Simpson, SNC May 1970, pp.192-6, and David Livingstone's Bearers' Medals by Roland Hill, OMRS Journal, December 2008, pp.229-38
Cataloged by DNW as follows:
Royal Geographical Society, David Livingstone Bearer's Medal, 1874, a silver award by A.B. Wyon, bust of David Livingstone three-quarters right, rev. legend in eight lines, named (Maganga – Faithful To The End), 37mm (Storer 2229; Fearon 325.2; E 1637; cf. Magor 403). Minor surface marks, otherwise very fine and toned, extremely rare, less than 10 specimens now believed extant, four of which are in institutions [British Museum, Livingstone Museum, Zambia, Blantyre Museum, Malawi, and the Royal Geographical Society]; with clip and ring for suspension £3,000-4,000
---
Maganga, listed as recipient no. 35 on the medal roll prepared in the British Consulate in Zanzibar, was one of the party sent up to Livingstone by Henry Stanley in 1872. He is shown as "away with Arab traders" in August 1875, but is known to have met Stanley in the interior in May 1876. Described by Stanley as a tall Mynamwezi, and initially as "a native of Mkwenkwe, a strong faithful servant, an excellent pagazi, with an irreproachable temper", Stanley later tempered his opinion by saying that "he...and his weakly-bodied tribe...were ever falling sick." He added that "on approaching a village the temper of whose people might be hostile to us, Maganga would commence his song, with the entire party joining in the chorus, by which mode we knew whether the natives were disposed to be friendly or hostile."
The story of the missionary and explorer David Livingstone is one of the great epic tales of the Victorian age. Beginning in 1841, his career of African exploration was divided into three phases, the high point of the final chapter, to locate the source of the Nile, being his historic meeting with Henry Morton Stanley at Ujiji on 10 November 1871. After spending four months together, Stanley left Livingstone on 14 March 1872 at Unyanyembe (Tabora) where he remained until the 56 native porters and fresh supplies which Stanley had sent up from the coast arrived to reinforce the expedition. Reaching Lake Tanganyika in October, Livingstone then made for Lake Bangweulu but by the time he arrived there in February 1873 he was seriously ill. Pressing on despite rapidly deteriorating health, towards the end of April he could go no further; his servants built a hut to shelter him at Ilala where he died in the early morning of 1 May. After three days of mourning, his bearers decided unanimously to embalm their master's body and take it back down to the coast from whence it could be returned to England for burial. Going first to Unyanyembe, where they rested for a month, relays of porters carried the body through swamp, desert and forest, eventually reaching the port of Bagamoyo in February 1874. On 18 April 1874 David Livingstone was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey and on 22 June of the same year the Council of the Royal Geographical Society resolved to award a special medal to all those native servants who had carried Livingstone's body halfway across Africa the previous year. Commissioned from J.S. & A.B. Wyon, 60 silver medals were struck and sent to Zanzibar for distribution. By the time they arrived at the end of June 1875 most of Livingstone's bearers had long since dispersed, including 33 who had joined Stanley's Anglo-American Expedition of 1874-7. In due course, however, many of the recipients received their medals and the details are contained in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London. For further information and the full medal roll, see Faithful to the End by Fred Pridmore and D.H. Simpson, SNC May 1970, pp.192-6, and David Livingstone's Bearers' Medals by Roland Hill, OMRS Journal, December 2008, pp.229-38
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
Great piece of history there. Congrats.
Latin American Collection
He is more talkative than I am though.
Did you pay close to £3,000?
Hammered at £4,200.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Dr. Livingstone, I presume.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
On 18 April 1874 David Livingstone was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey and on 22 June of the same year the Council of the Royal Geographical Society resolved to award a special medal to all those native servants who had carried Livingstone's body halfway across Africa the previous year. Commissioned from J.S. & A.B. Wyon, 60 silver medals were struck and sent to Zanzibar for distribution. By the time they arrived at the end of June 1875 most of Livingstone's bearers had long since dispersed, including 33 who had joined Stanley's Anglo-American Expedition of 1874-7. In due course, however, many of the recipients received their medals and the details are contained in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London. For further information and the full medal roll, see Faithful to the End by Fred Pridmore and D.H. Simpson, SNC May 1970, pp.192-6, and David Livingstone's Bearers' Medals by Roland Hill, OMRS Journal, December 2008, pp.229-38
Wow, that is a great story! Does the Royal Geographical Society archives have the names of the recipients? Do you know if your medal was awarded to one of those that carried Livingston's body halfway across Africa?
It seems to me this is a classic case of being buried in an item. (Ask me how I know!
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OK, I get that it's historic, rare, and all that. But as a dealer, shouldn't you have planned your exit strategy before buying it, especially at that price?
It seems to me this is a classic case of being buried in an item. (Ask me how I know!
Pruebas - What makes you think that this piece was expensive?
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Wow, that is a great story! Does the Royal Geographical Society archives have the names of the recipients? Do you know if your medal was awarded to one of those that carried Livingston's body halfway across Africa?
According to the DNW catalog description above, yes and yes. The bearer's name was Maganga.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
8 Reales Madness Collection
Is the recipient Maganga's name on the medal anywhere?
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
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Is the recipient Maganga's name on the medal anywhere?
I expect that it is engraved on the edge. We'll see when it arrives.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
OK, I get that it's historic, rare, and all that. But as a dealer, shouldn't you have planned your exit strategy before buying it, especially at that price?
It seems to me this is a classic case of being buried in an item. (Ask me how I know!
Pruebas - What makes you think that this piece was expensive?
Didn't you say it hammered for GBP4200? With the vig, that's about $7500.
I think most would consider that an expensive medal.
Is the recipient Maganga's name on the medal anywhere?
I expect that it is engraved on the edge. We'll see when it arrives.
Isn't that why it's called a bearer's medal?
The clasp on the Livingstone medal looks like the clasp on this San Francisco schools medal:
San Francisco Samuel Bridge Medal awarded to Frank O'Donnell in 1895
I asked about the name Maganga on the Livingstone medal because the description implies that the name and "Faithful To The End" are on the medal.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
Is the recipient Maganga's name on the medal anywhere?
I expect that it is engraved on the edge. We'll see when it arrives.
Isn't that why it's called a bearer's medal?
I thought they referred to it as a "bearer's medal" because the recipient carried Livingstone's body. I could be wrong, of course.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
OK, I get that it's historic, rare, and all that. But as a dealer, shouldn't you have planned your exit strategy before buying it, especially at that price?
It seems to me this is a classic case of being buried in an item. (Ask me how I know!
Pruebas - What makes you think that this piece was expensive?
Didn't you say it hammered for GBP4200? With the vig, that's about $7500.
I think most would consider that an expensive medal.
Pruebas - I was under the impression that you thought I was buried in this piece because the price was expensive for this particular piece. Now, I'm completely confused. Are you actually suggesting that any medal priced at $7500 (or, presumably, more) must be a "burial"? If so, I must respectfully disagree.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
OK, I get that it's historic, rare, and all that. But as a dealer, shouldn't you have planned your exit strategy before buying it, especially at that price?
It seems to me this is a classic case of being buried in an item. (Ask me how I know!
Pruebas - What makes you think that this piece was expensive?
Didn't you say it hammered for GBP4200? With the vig, that's about $7500.
I think most would consider that an expensive medal.
Pruebas - I was under the impression that you thought I was buried in this piece because the price was expensive for this particular piece. Now, I'm completely confused. Are you actually suggesting that any medal priced at $7500 (or, presumably, more) must be a "burial"? If so, I must respectfully disagree.
No, it's not just the price.
The medal (and all medals) have a limited market. That market is further reduced by the price. And further reduced (at least here in the States) by the limited interest in the topic. Then further reduced because it's not UNC. And finally, you paid (what appears to me to be) retail for it.
Please prove to me that I'm wrong by selling it for a profit.
I agree with your original comment. You'd be better off without this piece.
Well, I completely agree that the market for such items is thin, but many of my best deals have been on thinly-traded items. In fact, I would say that I have had greater success with thinly-traded items than with more mainstream items.
As for the price, I don't doubt that I paid a strong price. However, the piece seems to me like very good value for the money, and I don't think I'm the only one who will see it that way. Time will tell.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Andy, all I can say is I hope you haven't yet paid for it!
I wired the money very early this morning. Saved about 8%!
Unfortunately, the stock market more than offset the windfall.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Taler Custom Set
Ancient Custom Set
Andy, all I can say is I hope you haven't yet paid for it!
I wired the money very early this morning. Saved about 8%!
Unfortunately, the stock market more than offset the windfall.
Good deal!
I still can't understand how all the bright minds on Wall Street didn't see this coming. The stock market was up big time Thursday and I, for one (maybe the only one), took advantage by selling into that strength.
Apparently, group-think still rules on Wall Street.
Andy, all I can say is I hope you haven't yet paid for it!
I wired the money very early this morning. Saved about 8%!
Unfortunately, the stock market more than offset the windfall.
Good deal!
I still can't understand how all the bright minds on Wall Street didn't see this coming. The stock market was up big time Thursday and I, for one (maybe the only one), took advantage by selling into that strength.
Apparently, group-think still rules on Wall Street.
The markets have not been free since 2009. The federal reserve has managed risk and with help of politicians and bought media and even Obama in his visit to the UK convinced/scared public into thinking this will not happen. It will replicate across other countries and resent of politicians/media will continue.
Taler Custom Set
Ancient Custom Set