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Auction: 353 - Coins and Commemorative Medals e-Auction
Lot: 341

Canada. Wreck of the Hudson Bay Company's 'S.S. Beaver', 1892. Reliquary Medal. Copper, 35mm. Number "554" stamped on edge. View of the floundering "S.S. Beaver" which was wrecked at Vancouver, legend below, small C.W. McCain inscription above, rev. view of Columbus' ship the "Santa Maria", legend below, small U.S 1893 patent inscription above.
"S.S. Beaver" was the first steamship to operate in the Pacific Northwest, serving the coast from 1836 to 1888. In 1874, the HBC sold her to a British Columbia towing and transport consortium, and was used as towboat. On the 25th of July, 1888, her inebriated crew ran her aground on rocks at Prospect Park in Vancouver's Stanley Park. The wreck finally sank in 1892 from the wake of a passing steamer, "Yosemite". Before she sank, Charles McCain salvaged 1035 pounds of copper, bronze and brass from the wreck and produced three series of commemorative reliquary medals in 1892. Much later, from 1962-1998, through private sponsorship, the medals were presented to veterans of the Royal Canadian Navy and Merchant Marines for outstanding service. Uncirculated.

Estimate

Starting price
$30