The Royal Society Medal, in commemoration of Captain James Cook – Silver 43mm

The Royal Society’s formal memorial to the great navigator. Fellows of the Royal Society were entitled to a free bronze medal, while silver and gold issues were available by subscription only. A probable final minting figure was 22 gold, 322 silver and 577 bronze medals.

The commissioning of this medal was due above all else to the efforts of Sir Joseph Banks, who supervised ‘the minting and distribution of the Royal Society Cook medal as a personal task coincident with the publication of the narrative of the tragic third voyage. Cook’s European reputation is borne out by several letters to Banks from the Continent requesting specimens of the medal, including one from Bougainville, who wrote in June 1785 to remind Banks that as a member since 1756 he felt entitled to one (see The Banks Letters, ed. W.R. Dawson, 1958, p. 122).

Obverse: Uniformed bust of James Cook.
Reverse: Fortune leaning upon a column, holding a rudder on a globe.