Description
BRITISH COLUMBIA Victoria Numismatic Society 1962 38mm bronze medal 25.52 grams with Royal Mint case
Courtesy of the VNS website - This medal was struck by the Victoria Numismatic Society at the Royal Mint, London, to commemorate the Centenary of the incorporation of the City of Victoria, the Capital of British Columbia.
The model for the dies was adapted by Mr. T. H. Paget, O.B.E., of the Royal Mint, London, an artist of great stature, and who is renowned for his designs on various British Colonial coins and medals.
The obverse is the City of Victoria's Seal, copied by Mr. T. H. Paget with extremely fine attention to detail, from that of the J. S. & A. B. Wyon original, now scratched and worn after one hundred years use sealing official City documents. The official description of the City Seal explains fully the symbolism used in the designs:
"The centre of the field is occupied by a shield bearing the crowned bust of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen (Victoria). The shield is wreathed with seaweed to indicate an insular position, and is flanked by emblematic figures representing the twin sisters of civilization and colonization. The latter on the left extends her right hand over the passing ships whilst her left is clasped by civilization on the right, who also extends her hand over the land and Victoria in the distance.
Under the clasped hands of the flanking figures the dove with the olive branch is seen descending, symbolizing hope. At the feet of colonization are nestled a pair of doves, signifying peace. At the feet of civilization is the cornucopia or horn of plenty. Against this and at the foot of the shield reclines a cupid, suggestive of our constant dependence for the blessing of life upon the bounty of the Diety, symbolized by the emblem of the Trinity which surmounts the composition.
The motto 'Semper Liber' - always free - is borne on a scroll by a bounding dolphin intended as suggestive of the free port system and civil institutions."
The reverse design is based on a sketch chosen by the Medal Committee to have it match the Society's British Columbia Centennial Medal of 1958 so that the Society's undertakings could be considered a set. The central portion features a spray of British Columbia's official flower - the Dogwood. The tree is usually tall, slender, bent and twisted. In the Spring it stands out among other trees of the forest bearing a profusion of white blossoms with four, five or six petals. All who see it cannot but remember its beauty. Below the Dogwood spray is the title, City of Victoria Centennial, 1862-1962, Capital of British Columbia. The legend above the spray of Dogwood, - Victoria Numismatic Society - is joined to British Columbia by two small Dogwood flowers - thus British Columbia serves the dual purpose of denoting the provincial origin of the Victoria Numismatic Society and also of completing the statement 'capital of'.
Copper mintage was 650.
