The Allan and Janet Woodliffe Collection of Medals Relating to the Reconquest and Pacification of the Sudan

Sudan Durbar Medal 1911, 51mm., silver, unnamed, edge marked ‘Specimen’ in small letters at 6 o’clock, complete with neck chain, nearly extremely fine, rare £800-1000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Allan and Janet Woodliffe Collection of Medals relating to the Reconquest and Pacification of The Sudan 1896-1956.

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Collection

The 1911 Royal Visit – and a little known “Sudan Durbar” Medal

At 7:30 a.m. on 17 January 1912, H.M.S. Medina, conveying their newly crowned majesties King George V and Queen Mary home from the great coronation Durbar at Delhi, docked at Port Sudan. The royal visit was for their majesties to meet the people of the Sudan, in a Sudanese Durbar.

The Sirdar, Lord Kitchener, the Governor-General, Sir Reginald Wingate, and the principal Aide-de-Camp to the Khedive, Ramzi Tahir Pasha, boarded the ship to welcome the royal couple, who were then escorted to a pavilion in nearby Suakin to meet the principal Sudanese chiefs. The Guard of Honour consisted of detachments of both the Yorkshire and VIIIth Egyptian Regiments. At the pavilion the Governor-General read out an address conveying the loyal welcome of the Sudanese people. In his reply the King said that he was pleased to pay a brief visit and regretted that he was unable to spare the time to penetrate further into the country, and went on to say that he was glad to meet representatives of the tribes, many of whom have travelled hundreds of miles to welcome them. A number of principal chiefs were then presented, each receiving a specially struck medal to commemorate the occasion. Later the royal party travelled by train the 10 miles to Sinkat for a grand review of native troops. They returned to H.M.S. Medina at 7.00 p.m. and the ship set sail for Suez.

The medal, which measures 51mm. in diameter, was designed to be worn around the neck suspended from a silver chain 85cm. in length. It was commissioned from the Royal Mint especially for presentation to the Sudanese chiefs at the Suakin gathering. The medal is extremely rare as only 50 were struck, and very few would exist today. Incidentally, the total cost of production was forty-eight pounds, nine shillings and three pence, a not inconsiderable sum in 1911.