Description

Victoria, 1837-1901. Gold Medal 1887, 29.72 g. Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Unsigned, by G.W. de Saulles, after T. Brock and J. H. Pinches. Bust, crowned, laureate, veiled and draped. VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX. Rv. Exterior view of building; a curved pennant around inscribed THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE TO COMMEMORATE THE JUBILEE OF VICTORIA R . ET I . 1887. In exergue: ALBERT EDWARD P. PRESIDENT. Plain edge. 38.3 mm. Eimer 1737. BHM 3226. Sehr selten / Very rare. Vorzüglich / Extremely Fine. Kleine Randfehler / Minor edge flaws.

From the auction UBS 56, Basel, January 2003, lot 2363.

The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 and 21 June 1887 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, ignoring the Biblical tradition that the start of the fiftieth year should be celebrated. Instead Victoria celebrated the completion with a banquet to which fifty European kings and princes were invited.

The buildings of the Imperial Institute, South Kensington, London,
were designed by T.E. Cullcutt and built between 1887- 1893. The Queen was laying the foundation stone on 4 July 1887. The institute was founded to represent the arts, manufactures and commerce of the colonies and India. It was established as a memorial of the Queen's jubilee and proposed by the Prince of Wales in a letter to the Lord Mayor of London on 13 September 1886. The building was opened in May 1893 and this medal was probably struck at that time.