Lot 1724
Great Britain. Sovereign, 1856. S.3852D; Fr-387e; KM-736.1. Weight 0.2355 ounce. Victoria. Young head. Reverse; Crowned shield. PCGS graded MS-62. In special PCGS Ship of Gold holder which contains One Pinch of Gold Dust recovered from the S.S. Central America treasure.
Special PCGS number 674251.62/35474740. Estimated Value $800 - UP
On 30 March 1856, the Treaty of Paris was signed by Great Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia in order to bring about an end of the bloody Crimean War (1853-1856). Despite the fall of Sevastopol after a siege of more than a year, by 1856 the war had become very unpopular in the United Kingdom due to inept leadership and disastrous losses in actions like the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade at the battle of Balaclava (1854). At the Congress of Paris leading up to the treaty, the British pressed for the inclusion of clauses that would punish Russia harshly for the conflict, but these were ultimately dropped through the influence of France, which had no real interest in the Balkans, but hoped to capitalize on a weakened, but not destroyed Russian Empire. Nevertheless, British trade profited from the provision of the treaty that demilitarized the Black Sea and left its ports available to trade by ships belonging to subjects of any of the victorious allies.
Prior to the peace treaty, on 29 January 1856, Queen Victoria instituted a new military medal known as the Victoria Cross. It was to be awarded to British soldiers of the Crimean War (and subsequent conflicts) regardless of birth or class in recognition of signal acts of valor on the battlefield. The Victoria Cross was bestowed upon its first recipients after their return from the Crimea in 1857. It became, and still remains, the highest military honor in the United Kingdom.
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| Realized $1,980 |
