Sir Winston Churchill at 150: Highlights From the J. Eric Engstrom Medal Collection
To coincide with the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Winston Churchill last autumn, the Heberden Coin Room is displaying coins and medals from their collection in a showcase in the Money Gallery. These include a rare proof of a commemorative £2 coin by the Royal Mint, specially produced for the anniversary.
Content
Churchill Crown, HCR98876, J. Eric Engstrom Churchill Medal Collection, Estate of Nemon © Ashmolean Museum.
The Heberden Coin Room at the Ashmolean has a world-class collection of medals relating to Churchill, mostly thanks to a gift from J. Eric Engstrom of his Churchill Medal Collection in 2020. The display reveals how Churchill has become a key figure in the medallic art of the 20th century.
The display explores the range of media in which Churchill finds himself remembered. Alongside the coins and medals are several other objects, including a pamphlet of John Maynard Keynes– on show for the first time– and a striking commemorative mug.
This display was supported by a gift given in loving memory of Harry Clay Blaney III
Selected Objects on Display
Churchill Crown
The Churchill Crown shows a sombre Winston Churchill in an air-raid ‘siren suit’. It was the first of its kind to commemorate a non-royal person. Designed by Oscar Nemon, 1965, cupro-nickel. Struck by the Royal Mint. J. Engstrom Churchill Medal Collection. Estate of Nemon / © Ashmolean Museum.
Battle of Britain commemorative medal
Said to be made from debris which fell from the House of Commons during a 1941 air-raid, this medal is a piece of stone cut into the shape of Churchill’s iconic ‘V for Victory’ hand gesture. 1942. J. Eric Engstrom Churchill Medal Collection © Ashmolean Museum.
Churchill memorial medal
The books and paintbrushes depicted behind Churchill’s head and shoulders on this memorial medal (1965) praise his artistic skills in literature and painting. Churchill won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953. J. Eric Engstrom Churchill Medal Collection © Ashmolean Museum.
Churchill mug
Churchill in his famed ‘V for Victory’ pose adorns this glazed earthenware mug made by E. T. Bailey in about 1965. The caricature has all his familiar hallmarks – polka-dot bowtie, pinstripe trousers and cigar © Ashmolean Museum.
Satirical bronze medal of Lord Balfour and the ‘Lusitania’
Here a German medal (1916) pokes fun at a young Churchill who is surrounded by angry political figures. It responds to the sinking of a luxury passenger liner, when Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty. J. Eric Engstrom Churchill Medal Collection © Ashmolean Museum.
Overview
Sir Winston Chuchill at 150: Highlights From the J. Eric Engstrom Churchill Medal Collection
Free Display
15 Nov 2024 – 30 Nov 2025
Money Gallery at a the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Admission is FREE
