BRITISH COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS, Great Britain, George III, War of 1812-1815, Upper Canada Preserved

BRITISH COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS, Great Britain, George III, War of 1812-1815, Upper Canada Preserved, Reward of Merit of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Toronto, Copper Medal [c.1817], by T Wyon Jr, British Lion and Beaver confront American Eagle across panorama of the St Lawrence, rev PRESENTED BY A GRATEFUL COUNTRY, and within central wreath, FOR MERIT, plain edge, 51mm (Leroux 866; Baldwin’s Coin Auction 47, lot 1355, silver; Ford VII, 410-413). Choice mint state, scarce. It is recorded that 61 gold and 548 silver medals were struck. They were never issued and were melted down in 1840. The present medal shows signs of being a later, perhaps mid-19th century, strike. For further information see C K Clarke, A History of the Toronto General Hospital, including an account of the Medal of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of 1812, Toronto 1913.