Coins, Historical Medals and Antiquities

FRANCE, Automobile-Club de France, 1895, a silver Société d’Encouragement award medal by J.-B. Daniel-Dupuis, semi-naked female figure sat on tricycle, right hand holding a torch and left hand on the tiller, rev. legend above wreath, named (Coupe Gordon-Bennett 1904, Clarke), 68mm (PBE 305; BM Acq. 1983-7, pl.39, 63; cf. DNW M7, 2595). About extremely fine; in contemporary maroon holder £100-£150

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Art Medals formed by Dr Edith Greenwood (†1987).

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The 1904 Gordon-Bennett Cup, the fifth running of this annual motor race, was staged on 17 June 1904 over four laps of closed roads in Bad Homburg, Germany, a distance of 527km (327 miles), and organised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland. The event attracted 18 starters and was won by Michelin employee Léon Théry, who defeated the former land speed record holder Camille Jenatzy by just over 11 minutes. The event was overseen by officials from France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Great Britain and it is presumed that the recipient of the medal was one such individual from England