Coins and Historical Medals

Royal Military College, Sandhurst, King’s Medal, 1904, a gold award by G.W. De Saulles, uniformed bust of Edward VII left, rev. legend, wreath below, edge named (gentleman cadet john basil whitmore hay), 45mm, 56.67g (cf. DNW 194, 1397, for similar). Some triffling hairlines, otherwise matt, good extremely fine and extremely rare £6,000-£8,000

Lt. John Basil Whitmore Hay (1887-1963) was a junior officer in the 36th Sikhs, Indian Army. As part of his service, Hay took part in the 1911 Delhi Durbar to celebrate the coronation of George V and Queen Mary. Earlier that year, Hay had also taken part in the Coronation in London, representing some 700 officers and soldiers from the Indian contingent. A post-service career in the Diplomatic Corps saw him spend the remainder of his working life in British East Africa, where he eventually retired with his family before succumbing to ill health on the 7th November 1963, aged 76.