Post-Revolutionary War to Civil War
1850 Appointment of the Master of the British Royal Mint Vellum Document with its Original Enormous Wax Seal
December 16, 1850, Partially-Printed Document, “By Writ of Privy Seal” Official Appointment to the Office of Director of the Tower Royal Mint in London, of Sir John Frederick William Hershel by Order of Queen Victoria, Britain, Choice Extremely Fine.
Magnificent, fresh and bright, “By Writ of Privy Seal” highly Ornate Partially-Printed Vellum Document with central Manuscript text with its massive official Embossed Wax Seal of Queen Victoria completely intact. This is the official Appointment of Sir John Herschel as the Master of the Tower Mint (Royal Mint) in London.

Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871) was an English Astronomer, Chemist, Writer, and one of the early developers of the new field of Photography. The only son of the famous astronomer Sir William Herschel (1738-1822), John Herschel begame a prominent figure in 19th-century British science, making significant contributions to mathematics. For a time he worked as an astronomer with his father, and later moved to South Africa for 4 years to map the southern skies. His work in chemistry led him to photography, where he developed the concept of positive and negative images, and was the first to photograph the spectra. He received a number of medals and other honors, and was appointed Master of the Royal Mint (London) in December 1850. He resigned that post in February 1855.

This wonderful document, measuring 21” x 30” has ornately decorated black printed border designs on three sides with docketing and signatures of four government officials being hand written at the bottom. The actual appointment statement is handwritten in old script, with the name of the appointee and some other entries in an 1800’s cursive script. There is a 2” x 1.5” deep blue £100 period British Tax Stamp in the upper left corner.

The beautiful wax seal, measuring 6.25” in diameter and 1” thick, is attached to the document by blue and gold cords. The obverse side of this tan color wax seal depicts Queen Victoria, with crown, orb and scepter, seated on her throne, flanked by 2 female attendants. A coat of arms appears below, and the whole is surrounded by a wreath. The reverse of the seal shows the Queen seated side-saddled on a powerful horse. This seal is housed for protection in its original circular black tin case, with a light blue protective padding at top and bottom. This impressive wax seal is in excellent condition, aside from some trivial chips on the outer edges. The vellum document attached to this seal is in excellent condition having expected folds to fit within the custom golden beach wood case in which it is housed. This is an absolutely beautiful, extremely impressive and historic official Appointment by the Queen of the Master of the British Royal Mint in 1850.