Captain Jack Roberts – two Chinese silver Shanghai Jubilee Medals, 1893

Captain Jack Roberts – two Chinese silver Shanghai Jubilee Medals, 1893The first medal: the front with a steamship, the sun setting in the distance, and a shield bearing the inscription "SHANGHAI / JUBILEE / NOVEMBER 17 1893", flanked by a pair of dragons. The recipient's name "J. ROBERTS" engraved in the centre of the shield. The back with three connected coats of arms and the date of the opening of the treaty port of Shanghai, 17 November 1843. "PRESENTED BY THE SHANGHAI MUNICIPALITY" embossed around the edge. Diameter 37 mm, weight 31.5 g.The second medal: the front with a dragon in the centre. Inscribed around the edge: "Presented to Cap. Jack Roberts by Wang Totai of Yung Ching for rescuing the crew of a Junk wrecked on the NE SHAN TUNG Promontory 14.9.1887". A sun disc surrounded by blossoms and foliage in the centre on the back. Diameter 38 mm, weight 34 g.Following China's defeat in the First Opium War (1839 - 1842), Shanghai was established as a "treaty port" on 17 November 1843. This was a historic event in which Shanghai was officially opened to the outside world as a designated trading port under the Anglo-Chinese Treaty of Nanjing. This marked the modernisation of the Shanghai region and also fostered the expansion of the present-day city of Shanghai. Over the next hundred years, it developed from a coastal village to one of the largest cities in China and the Far East.Exceptionally rare and significant medals documenting the history of Shanghai.Condition: I -