100668 | NORWAY & UNITED STATES. Amundsen & Ellsworth silvered bronze Medal.

100668 | NORWAY & UNITED STATES. Roald Amundsen & Lincoln Ellsworth silvered bronze Medal. Issued 1925. Commemorating the northernmost latitude attained by air at that time (72mm, 167.27 g, 12h). By C. Pillet in Paris.

 

Amundsen and Ellsworth placing Norwegian flag upon ice floe; 88º NORD to lower left / AMUNDSEN–ELLSWORTHS • POLFLYVNING • 1925, the Dornier Do J N-25 flying right over cracked ice. Edge: «triangle containing JtB» BRONZE.

 

Joos a.462. Choice About Uncirculated. Pleasing matte surfaces with some scattered marks and scuffs. An extremely rare aviation type, especially in silvered bronze.

 

Ex Michael Joos Collection.

 

The accomplished explorer Roald Amundsen, having led the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage in 1906 and to reach the South Pole in 1911, set out to reach the North Pole in 1925. Accompanied by American Lincoln Ellsworth and four others, Amundsen first attempted to reach the North Pole by air in two Dornier Do J flying boats, the N-24 and N-25. The expedition reached 87º 44' N before landing each plane a few miles apart. In the process, the N-24 was damaged, and required over 3 weeks of repairs, with the crew nearly depleting their rations. The repairs complete, the pair of planes successfully took off and returned to their home base. The following year, Amundsen led another expedition, this time able to fly over the North Pole in the airship Norge, becoming the first of two men (Oscar Wisting being the other) to reach both geographic poles of the earth. Richard E. Byrd had reached the North Pole by air three days prior, but this feat his long been disputed as Byrd's journal entries appear to have been altered and his actual accomplishment in doubt. This medal commemorates Amundsen's 1925 expedition—though not successful in reaching the North Pole fully, it represented the further north which a journey had reached by air at that time.

 

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