Back to search results
'Resolution' and 'Adventure' medal

Image 'Resolution' and 'Adventure' medal

TLF ID R1796

This is a bronze medal that was made for distribution during Captain James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific. The principal side depicts the King's head with the script 'GEORGE III KING OF GREAT BRITAIN FRANCE AND IRELAND ETC' around the edge. On the other side, the ships 'Resolution' and 'Adventure' are shown and named, along with their planned date of departure from England, March 1772. The medal was designed by William Barnett and struck by Boulton and Fothergill, England, in 1772. There is a hole punched through the top.

View resource


Educational details

Educational value
  • This asset shows that Cook's second voyage was well planned and prepared for - the medals were the idea of botanist Joseph Banks, who, even though he did not accompany Cook on the voyage (due to a dispute about his accommodation), suggested that the medals could act as a record of the event for people at home and, if distributed to people they encountered on the voyage, act as testimony that Cook had been in the area, to deter other European nations from making claims on discovered lands.
  • It is evidence that the medals were distributed as intended - this one was found at Wairau Bar, in Marlborough (in the northern South Island of New Zealand), in 1930.
  • It indicates that King George III approved of the voyage and the medal, as he consented to his image being used.
  • It illustrates that Banks had high expectations of the voyage - 2,000 medals were struck in bronze or brass, as well as 160 in silver and 2 in gold.
Topics Celebrations Medals

Other details

Contributors
  • Author
  • Name: Boulton and Fothergill
  • Organization: Boulton and Fothergill
  • Description: Author
  • Person: William Barnett
  • Description: Author
  • Contributor
  • Name: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Organization: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Description: Content provider
  • URL: http://www.tepapa.govt.nz
  • Name: Boulton and Fothergill
  • Organization: Boulton and Fothergill
  • Description: Author
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Person: William Barnett
  • Description: Author
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Organization: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Publisher
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Colour independence
  • Device independence
  • Hearing independence
Learning Resource Type
  • Image
Rights
  • © Education Services Australia Ltd and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2013, except where indicated under Acknowledgements