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Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was born in 1872 near Oslo. He was a Norwegian explorer, famed for being the first man to reach the South Pole in December 1911. He beat British fellow explorer, Captain Robert Scott and his team, by 35 days. His team comprised five men, 52 dogs and four sleds. There was no modern-day technology or equipment to help them, making the achievement of exactly one hundred and ten years ago even more noteworthy. Read on to find out some more Roald Amundsen facts.   Pole position The expedition team took almost two months to reach the...

The Jacobite Rebellion was a failed attempt that took place over a number of years to overthrow the British throne and restore power to the Stuart dynasty. The name came from supporters of ousted Stuart king, James II. By 1745 and the recapturing of Carlisle – a town in northern England – the Jacobite army was fighting to place James II’s grandson, Charles Edward Stuart, on the throne, which would restore the Stuart line, which had previously been replaced by the Hanoverians. Charles Edward Stuart became better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie.  Discover the medallion: 1731 Prince Charles Medallion To begin...

The studying and collecting of medals and medallions has been popular for a very long time. The sheer amount of heritage, patriotism, knowledge and achievement tied up in historical medals and medallions is both fascinating and vast. What are some of the main types of medals? From medals with royal connections to military honours; sports and education prizes to religious artefacts, there is something to intrigue and inform even the most seasoned of collectors. Here are five historic medal categories that are worth a closer look: Political and military medals Politicians have long had a significant impact on how historical...

1- What’s the difference between a coin and a medallion? Numismatics tends to be thought of primarily as the study of coins, however an important branch of this hobby is a focus on medals or medallions. 2- What’s the difference between medals and medallions? Medals are often suspended from a ribbon and awarded to people for their services, such as war medals. Medallions tend to be larger and are often commemorative. That is, they commemorate an historical event or notable person. As they are often larger in size, they also tend to be more decorative and can show off the...

What happened on 28th June 1838? Queen Victoria is one of Britain’s most well-known monarchs but what happened on the day she became Queen of the British Empire? A youthful Queen gets public support for the British Monarchy. Britain was relieved to have a new young monarch and it is thought that if she hadn’t been the new ruler of Britain, the health of the monarchy would have been in serious decline. The public were tired of monarchs that were old and out of date, as per the previous three men before her. Victoria brought a new vitality to the...