HISTORIC MEDAL AT MUSEUM

Southland Times, Issue 24868, 7 October 1942, Page 3

HISTORIC MEDAL AT MUSEUM

Waitangi-Bledisloe Token One of the few Waitangi-Bledisloe bronze commemoration medals issued by the New Zealand Numismatic So- ' ciety on February 6, 1935, the ninety- ' fifth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, is at present on exhibition in the Southland Museum. The Waitangi-Bledisloe medal was the first medallic recognition of Waitangi, the first medal to bear the portrait of a Governor-General of New Zealand, and the first medal issued by the New Zealand Numismatic Society. Only one silver specimen was struck; it was presented to Lord Bledisloe as a farewell token and specimen of New Zealand medallic art. The issue of bronze specimens was limited to 105. On the obverse side of the medal is a portrait of Lord Bledisloe and on the reverse is a Maori pare with sprays of kowhai in side fields and two manuka blossoms at the base. An inscription on the doorway of the pare links the names of the first Lieutenant-Governor (Hobson) and the Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe). A festival was held to celebrate the nationalization of Waitangi consequent on the gift of the site by Lord and Lady Bledisloe. The medal is one of a collection of antiques and museum pieces lent for exhibition by Mrs E. Mulcahy. Other pieces include an ancient tea caddy in wood and with lock attached; a mustard pot in old Scottish pottery; a valuable cameo and amethyst brooch said to be 200 years old and a Riverton centenary badge. Gifts received at x the museum during the week include a visiting card case inlaid with paua shell and mother-of-pearl, presented by Mrs A. Walker, Invercargill, four Maori adzes, a fragment of greenstone and a number of fossils from limestone, presented by Mr W, Wilson, of Browns.