Rare medal to commemorate death of Whitby explorer Captain Cook set to go under hammer

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A rare silver medal struck to commemorate the death of Captain James Cook is to be sold inTennants Auctioneers’ Militaria and Ethnographica Sale, with an estimate of £1,500-2,000.

Following Cook’s death in Hawaii in 1779, the Royal Society commissioned a medal designed by Lewis Pingo, depicting a bust of Captain Cook on one side with a figure of Fortune on the other.

Only 322 of these medals were struck in silver, while there were 577 in bronze and only 22 in gold.

The medals are among those in the militaria and ethnographica sale at the auction centre in Leyburn.

The Captain James Cook medals which are going under the hammer at the Auction Centre in Leyburn.

Other interesting medals in the sale include a Second World War MM Group of Eight Medals, awarded to Corporal Frank Shepherd of the 1st – 5th Battalion the Queen’s Royal Regiment (estimate: £1,500-2,000).

The medals comprise a Military Medal (Immediate Award), 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, Italy Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, War Medal with MID oak leaf and Efficiency Medal.