Original British Victorian Indian Mutiny Medal 1857-1859 Named to Able Seaman Josh Bastard Aboard HMS Shannon Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. The Indian Mutiny Medal was a campaign medal approved in August 1858, for issue to officers and men of British and Indian units who served in operations in suppression of the Indian Mutiny.

The medal was initially sanctioned for award to those troops who had been engaged in action against the mutineers. However, in 1868 the award was extended to all those who had borne arms or who had been under fire, including such people as members of the Indian judiciary and the Indian civil service, who were caught up in the fighting. Some 290,000 medals were awarded.

The obverse depicts the diademed head of a young Queen Victoria with the legend VICTORIA REGINA, designed by William Wyon.

The reverse shows a helmeted Britannia holding a wreath in her right hand and a union shield on her left arm. She is standing in front of a lion. Above is the word INDIA, with the dates 1857-1858 below. The reverse was designed by Leonard Charles Wyon, who also engraved the die of the medal.

The 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide ribbon is white with two scarlet stripes, with each stripe of equal width. The recipient’s name and unit is impressed on the rim of the medal in block Roman capitals.

This example is beautifully named JOSH BASTARD, A.B. SHANNON

A.B. stands for Able Seaman and Shannon indicates he was aboard the H.M.S. Shannon and fought at the. Siege of Lucknow,

The H.M.S Shannon was a Liffey-class steam frigate of the Royal Navy the was originally ordered as a sail driven Leander-class frigate,. but was re-ordered as screw frigate on 4 April 1851. She was built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 24 November 1855. She was completed by 29 December 1856 with her hull having cost £62,759, her machinery £37,325, and a further £27,079 spent on fitting out.

Under the command of Sir William Peel, Shannon played an important role in the Indian Mutiny landing a naval brigade which fought at the Siege of Lucknow, including the Storming of the Sikandar Bagh. Five Victoria Crosses were won by the following crew of HMS Shannon: Lieutenant Thomas Young, Lieutenant Nowell Salmon, Leading Seaman John Harrison, Able Seaman Edward Robinson and Able Seaman William Hall, the first Black person and the first Canadian sailor to be awarded a Victoria Cross. Peel was wounded in the leg during the second relief of Lucknow, and was brought to Cawnpore, where he died of smallpox, having commanded Shannon’s naval brigade during the campaign.

In total 532 Indian Mutiny Medals were awarded to the officer’s and men of the H.M.S. shannon. Medals, like this one, without bars were awarded to three officers and 61 men.

This medal was originally acquired on August 25th, 1964 and includes the original recipe from Coin Galleries located at the Hotel Salisbury in New York City. It is also still contained in an original Merchants Bank Safety Deposit Envelope. It remained in a private collection since being acquired in 2020.