Lot 636
Egypt, Pasha Muhammad Ali (1805-1848), The Overland Route to India, silver medal.

Ancient, British & World Coins - Auction 120 | C25001
Auction: 12 March 2025 at 10:00 GMT
£2,400
Description
(58mm/70.93gm), 1842, by A.J. Stothard. Three-quarter bust left wearing fez, no signature. Rev, FROM THE COMMITTEE THE FRIEND OF SCIENCE COMMERCE & ORDER WHO PROTECTED THE SUBJECTS AND PROPERTY OF ADVERSE POWERS AND KEPT OPEN THE OVERLAND ROUTE TO INDIA 1840, crossed palm leaves below (Puddester 842.2; Fearon 696; BDM V 696). Extremely Fine, a few light marks, hints of tone to the peripheries. Puddester estimates less than 100 specimens struck in silver, but it is believed that an example in this metal has not appeared on the open market in more than 20 years, which would suggest excessive rarity.
Footnote
Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman Sultan’s Viceroy, was appointed as Egypt’s Governor on May 17, 1805 and ruled Egypt till September 1848. In 1819 Ali, as Viceroy to Egypt, presented ‘Cleopatra’s Needle’ to England. The obverse bust is based on the famous portrait by Sir David Wilkie, painted in Alexandria in 1840. Wilkie had been travelling in the Middle East and died in 1841 at Gibraltar, never completing the journey home. Puddester notes that “A silver piece in the British Museum has on the bottom rim: A. J. STOTHARD MEDAL ENGRAVER BY APPOINTMENT TO HER MAJESTY D&F”, which is not present on this medal.

