A gold award medal from Ireland’s Trinity College presented to pioneering biochemist William Robert Fearon in 1915 sold for a record hammer price of £6,500 (about $10,800 Cdn.) at Noonans Mayfair’s historical medals sale this October.
Sold by an Irish collector, the medal, which graced the auction catalogue’s cover, was expected to fetch just £2,400-£3,000 as Lot 223.
“This gold award medal by West & Son of 102 & 103 Grafton Street, Dublin, was decorated with a three-quarter-length bust of Elizabeth I,” said Peter Preston-Morley, the associate director of Noonans’ coin department. “It attracted interest from all over the world and achieved a record price for any medal from Trinity College Dublin.
In an original maroon gilt-blocked fitted case, the medal was in mint condition and was purchased by a collector in the Far East.”