Vintage British Baltic Medal – 1854 Crimean War era

36mm wide circular silver medal on claw and ornate foliated swivel suspender; the face with the young crowned head of Queen Victoria, inscribed ‘VICTORIA REGINA’ and signed ‘W. WYON RA’ (for William Wyon, R.A., 1795-1851, chief engraver at the Royal Mint 1828-1851); the reverse with the figure of Britannia seated on a rock, a trident in her right hand, a naval cannon and cannon balls imposed on crossed standards below a crown at her feel, the fortress of Bomarsund beyond to the right, Fort Sveaborg to the left, inscribed above ‘BALTIC’, dated ‘1854-1855’ below and signed ‘L. C. WYON.’ (for Leonard Charles Wyon, 1826-1891); slight contact marks, generally good overall; on original ribbon. 

The medal was instituted on 23 April 1856 and awarded to participants in the diversionary Anglo-French expedition to the Baltic during the Crimean War with Russia. It was awarded to members of the Royal Navy, Royal Marine Artillery, Royal Marine Light Infantry and Royal Sappers and Miners and to the soldiers and sailors of the French Expeditionary Corps under General Baraguey d’Hilliers. The campaign in the Baltic tends to be overshadowed by that in the Crimea, not least because it was very early a stalemate, the outnumbered Russian fleet staying beneath the protection of shore batteries and the British and French fleets seeking to avoid the risk from on-shore fire, though the blockade they imposed weighed heavily on the Russian economy. The fortress of Bomarsund on the Finnish coast was destroyed and Fort Sveaborg near Helsinki bombarded. Emperor Napoleon III authorised the acceptance and wear of the medal by French forces.