Captain Cook gold medal

Press, 12 November 1981, Page 19

Captain Cook gold medal

NZPA staff correspondent London A Captain Cook memorial medal struck in 1784 for the Royal Society has been presented to the New Zealand Government. The medal was presented to the New Zealand High Commissioner in London, Mr L. W. Gandar, by its former owner, Miss Elsie Turner, and will go to the National Museum in Wellington. The heavy 22-carat gold medal was produced in 1784 for the Royal Society of which Cook was elected a member in 1775. The medals were distributed to subscribers to the fund set up to provide the medal. Thirteen were struck in gold. 289 in silver, and aOO in oronze. Nine of the original gold medals were subscribed for, and one each was presented

to the King and Queen, the Prince of Wales, the King ot France, and the Empress oi Russia. One was presented to Captain Cook s widow and is now in the British Museum. ’ The medal presented to the New Zealand Government was bought in 1929 by Sir Lester Harmsworth, for eight guineas. He left it to Sir Harold Harmsworth, anc it eventually ended up in the hands of Miss Turner. It is not known who owned the medal before 1929. "It is gold as they used 1 make it,” said Mr Ganda weighing the beautiful) moulded medal in his hano “Although Sir Leste, Harmsworth paid eigfu guineas for it originally, wi have been told it would fetcranything between 2000 and 20.000 guineas m an auction room today.”