Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

WORLD HISTORICAL MEDALS, BRAZIL, Morro Velho Gold Mines, c. 1848, a silver Slavery medal for Good Conduct, unsigned, slave standing left, right arm outstretched, left hand resting on anchor, palms at sides, rev. morro velho premio de boa conducta, 39mm (Cavalcanti 59; cf. Baldwin 65, 1131). Minor rim bruise on reverse and some surface marks, otherwise very fine and extremely rare; with loop for suspension £1,500-2,000

Provenance: G. Thomas Collection, NASCA Auction (New York), 27-8 May 1980, lot 191.

The Morro Velho gold mine complex, located near Nova Lima in Minas Gerais province and opened in 1835, is the world’s oldest continuously worked mine. The English-owned St John del Rey Mining Company was the largest slaveholder in the Brazilian province of Minas Gerais during the second half of the nineteenth century. The explorer Sir Richard Burton and his wife Lady Isabel, visited the mines and his account, Explorations in the Highlands of Brazil, published in 1869, tells of the fortnightly Slave Muster. He describes how on every other Sunday, early in the morning, over a thousand slaves, men, women and children, all dressed in a special wardrobe assigned by the superintendent (but bare-footed), gathered in front of the Casa Grande (big house) where the selected few were given medals, awards, and public recognition by the overseers (Baldwin catalogue footnote)