Description
CANADA 1901 Visit of Duke & Duchess of York to America 38.8mm x 64mm gilt brass 11.48 grams not listed by Cumbers and Whittlestone
Obverse: VISIT OF / DUKE & DUCHESS OF YORK / TO AMERICA
Reverse: SCHWAAB S&S CO . MILWAUKEE
Bar Pin: SOUVENIR (pin removed)
In John Cumbers & Andrew Whittlestone's, Royal Commemorative Medals 1837- 1977 Volume 4 Edward VII 1901 - 1910 there is a listing (#4078) described as U.S.A. Issue that has Edward VII on the obverse with wording similar to this medal on the reverse, possibly by Schwaab & Co. Both this and the C&W listing should either be viewed as Canadian issues of US manufacture with "Visit to America" taken as North America and not the U.S.A, or that Schwaab produced these pieces in anticipation of a Royal Visit to the US. It was hoped by organisers that they would visit the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY, but there was a refusal for the Royal couple to leave British soil. American newspapers felt that the US had been slighted by the Royal couple, but it may have been more of a security issue, as only the month before a plot was uncovered that a group of anarchists of Italian descent based in New Jersey were making plans to assassinate the couple in Montreal. The tour was designed to thank the British Empire for their contributions to the Boer War. The tour lasted for nearly eight months and most of it was spent in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, with brief calls at Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Ceylon, Singapore and Mauritius. They travelled almost 50 000 miles.
