British Commemorative Medalets (2): Commissioned by Queen Vi...

British Commemorative Medalets (2): Commissioned by Queen Victoria to commemorate the death of her servant and companion John Brown in 1883. One in gold in yellow metal pendant mount 17mm, obverse as Bonhams Scottish Sale 18 Aug 2009, Lot 283 (mounted as a stick pin, sold for £5760, high grade with case), reverse slightly different i.e. crown over monogram rather than 'FROM' over monogram. 3.21g, GVF with some surface marks. The other in unmarked silver or white metal, d.14mm, designs as the Bonhams example. 1.85g, lightly toned nEF, tiny edge nick. A 1921 biography of Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey states 'a Brown memorial brooch - of gold, with the late gillie's head on one side and the royal monogram on the other - was designed by Her Majesty for presentation to her Highland servants and cottagers, to be worn by them on the anniversary of his death, with a mourning scarf and pins.'