Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

‘Pluck’ Medal for Heroism, (Sgt. Beisly) 32mm., silver, hallmarks for Birmingham 1897, with silver brooch bar inscribed ‘Special Service’, good very fine and rare £300-£400

Provenance: James Spencer Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, December 2003; Dix Noonan Webb, March 2000.

Philip Stephen Beisly served in the Royal Engineers and was promoted to Sergeant in June 1888. The circumstances behind this award are not known.

Pluck was first published in 1895 and it’s stated aim was to counteract the influence of the Penny Dreadful, and to be a high class weekly magazine of adventure at home and abroad, recounting the daring deeds of British heroes. It included fictional stories as well as factual articles. Medals were issued from the start of the paper; in issue No. 8 it was announced that the award was to be known as the “Answers - Pluck Award”, and until the issue for No. 24 the medal was similar to that given by Answers (i.e. the first 16 awards). From issue No. 25 onwards the distinctive Pluck medal was used. Approximately 55 awards of this later type are thought to have been awarded.