Coins and Historical Medals

Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, silver award medals after W. Wyon (3), bust of James Watt left, revs. legend in wreath, edges named (Holman Brothers, for the Cornish Patent Rock Drill, 1882; Holman Brothers, for Rock Drill with Water Spray, 1906; Awarded to Holman Bros Ltd for Exhibit of Mining Machinery, 1908), latter two by J.A. Restall and hallmarked Birmingham 1906 and 1908, all 45mm (E 1272); together with a ceremonial wooden gavel bearing a silver plate, named (Presented to Mrs F. Holman by the Trustees of Wesley Rock Chapel, on the occasion of Laying Memorial Stones, May 21st 1897), 20 x 7cm [Lot]. Medals extremely fine and in a glazed display case with hinged lid, gavel very fine but two rivets missing from plate £150-200

The Cornish Rock Drill was patented by the brothers John Henry (1853-1908) and James Miners Holman (1857-1933) in 1881, in conjunction with the drill’s designer, James McCulloch. The drills were manufactured by Holmans in Camborne and soon employed at several Cornish mines, including Dolcoath and South Crofty; by the 1890s Holmans had acquired international fame and their drills were being exported to South Africa. Mrs F. Holman is presumed to be the wife of John Henry Holman; James Miners Holman’s wife was Rose, née Frost