City jeweller strikes gold with medal find
A RARE gold medal discovered by a jeweller is going under the hammer.
The 20ct gold Life Saving Medal, made by Tiffany & Co, was uncovered in a pile of old gold by a jeweller in Old Swan.
Peter Edwards, of WJ Edwards, on Prescot Road, found the rare medal in a leather pouch among broken gold jewellery. After much research, he discovered the medal had been awarded to Alfred N Beavan, the captain of the steamship Birka, which sailed from Liverpool in 1911.
The medal was presented after Beavan rescued three seamen from their sinking ship, Theresa, which was found in heavy seas 120 miles off St Michael’s, in the Azores. The seamen from Spain had set sail to fish off the North West coast of Africa, but they arrived as shipwrecked mariners in New York onboard the Birka on August 2, 1911.
The medal, designed by CH Lovett, is up for auction at Birmingham’s Fellows & Sons and is expected to fetch between £2,000-£3,000.
It will be sold alongside an account of the rescue in the New York Times.
Stephen Whittaker, managing partner, Fellows & Sons, said: “This medal is unique and carries an interesting history. Currently there is a tendency for jewellers to scrap gold, but I am delighted they spotted the potential interest.”
