City of Armadale - History House > Records

WA CENTENARY MEDALLION

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1929

Overview

Round copper and zinc medal. Obverse side has picture of swan with raised wings standing over a banner with text in Latin. Raised text around edge. Reverse side has side portrait of King George V. Text around edge. Made from copper and zinc, tarnished.

Historical information

Medal was produced by the Perth Mint to celebrate the centenary of Western Australia in 1929. The medal featured an image of King George V designed by Sir Bertram MacKennal, an Australian artist residing in London and on the reverse side a heraldic design of a black swan standing over a banner which had been designed by English heraldic artist George Kruger Grey. The first medal was struck on 15 Marc h1929 by Lady McMillan the wife of the Lieutenant-Governor of WA. The medal is made from a mix of copper and zinc. Approximately 85,000 medals were stuck with many of them distributed to WA school age children, including Arthur George Berry who was attending the Armadale School.
Most of the medals were distributed to the children on Friday 13 September 1929 which had been designated 'Children's Day' and featured speeches, performances in the morning and sporting carnivals in the afternoon. (Sourced from research completed by Glenn Burghall http://blog.perthmint.com.au/2014/10/15/western-australian-centenary-1929-medal-part-2/)

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2019.15

Themes

People
Social History

Material

Non Ferrous Metal

Width

38 mm

Inscriptions and markings

obverse text on edge [CENTENARY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1929], text on banner [CYGNIS INS IGNIS] Reverse side [GEORGIVS V REX ET IND: IMP.]

Keywords

George V King Centenary 100yrs of Western Australia

Armadale State School

Year

1929

Statement of significance

MEDIUM
Approximately 70,000 medal was produced by the Perth Mint in 1929 for distribution to Western Australian school children to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the foundation of the Swan River Colony. This medal was presented to 6 year old Arthur George Berry, most likely on 13 September 1929 which was 'Children's Day' and featured the local medal being distributed, speeches, performances and a sports carnival in the afternoon

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

City of Armadale - History House

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