Beschreibung:

THE SCOTT MEDAL FOR VALOUR, A RARE 2ND CLASS SILVER AWARD FROM THE FIRST YEAR OF ISSUE. First type, plain ring suspender and cast two-piece construction, in the form of a stylised Celtic cross, the left arm bearing the heraldic eagle of the United States of America, the right arm a harp superimposed on a sunburst, the upper and lower arms with the 5 line inscription ''Walter Scott Medal - For Valor'', in the centre of the reverse the arms of New York city, circlet around bearing the arms of the four provinces of Ireland at each quarter and the inscription ''Garda Siocana na Eireann'', reverse impressed with the maker's mark of Alwright & Marshall, ''A & M'', Dublin hallmark for 1923, with its original tricolour ribbon and top brooch pin (unnamed, the panel for engraving the recipient's details on the front of the top brooch pin blank and never having been engraved). The Scott Medal, Ireland's police bravery award, came into being in 1923 following a meeting between the then Commissioner of the Garda Siocana, General Eoin O'Duffy, and Walter Scott the Honorary Commissioner of the New York City Police and well-known philanthropist. Colonel Scott expressed a desire to assist what was then the world's youngest police force, and eventually agreed to present the Garda Siocana with a $1,000 bond, the interest from which was to pay, in perpetuity, for a bravery medal. Only one condition was attached to the award of the medal, that ''no action, however heroic, will merit the award of the Scott Medal unless it takes the shape of an act of personal bravery, performed intelligently in the execution of duty at imminent risk to the life of the doer, and armed with full previous knowledge of the risk involved''. In 1925 Colonel Scott presented the Garda Siocana with an additional $500 bond, the interest on which was also to provide for the awarding of bravery medals to the Garda Siocana. Up until now it has always been believed that when the Scott Medal was instituted in 1923 it was envisaged as having one class only, a gold medal, and that the 2nd and 3rd classes were not considered until Commissioner Scott presented his second bond for $500 in 1925. However, the silver medal offered here is clearly hallmarked 1923, and both it and the bronze 3rd Class medal that is offered as the following lot were produced from the same pair of dies, that same set of dies also being used to produce the unique 1923 Gold Medal from the first year of issue. All three medals share a number of identical diagnostic die flaws, confirming that they were produced from the same set of dies. For instance, the reverses of all three medals have a common die flaw, a small diagonal raised line of excess metal between the letters A and R in GARDA. The shared die flaws provide conclusive proof that all three grades of the award, gold, silver and bronze, were envisaged from the outset and produced in 1923 from the same set of dies. It remains the case, however, that silver and bronze medals were not actually awarded until 1925, with only one gold medal per year being awarded in 1923 and 1924. This was undoubtedly because the income from the 1923 bond was only sufficient to finance a commitment to the award of one medal of a single class in perpetuity, in gold. Only when the interest from the 1925 bond became available did it become financially viable to make a commitment to award the medal in all three grades in perpetuity, gold, silver and bronze, as originally envisaged. The silver and bronze 2nd and 3rd class medals are awarded to members of the Garda Siocana who had performed similar acts of gallantry in the execution of their duty as for the 1st class medal, but with less risk to their lives. The Scott Medal ceremony is held annually. Scott Medals are seldom offered for sale. This 1923 hallmarked example of a silver award from the first year of manufacture is believed to be unique. As of 1998, the latest date for which statistics are available from the Garda Museum,