103387 | GREAT BRITAIN. Pair (2) of Sir Francis Chichester silver Medals.

103387  |  GREAT BRITAIN. Pair (2) of Sir Francis Chichester silver Medals. Issued 1967. Commemorating the first person to sail around the world single-handedly. By Paul Vincze for Spink.

 

SIR FRANCIS CHICHESTER, capped bust left / GIPSY MOTH IV 1966-67 GOLDEN HIND 1577-80, Neptune on bent knee left, raising up laurel wreath and holding trident; behind, projection of the globe surmounted by the Gipsy Moth IV (Chichester's ketch) and the Golden Hind (Sir Francis Drake's galleon).

 

(1): 57mm. Edge: SILVER 153. Eimer 2113a. PCGS SP-63.

 

(2): 38mm. Edge: SILVER 153. Eimer 2113b. PCGS SP-64.

 

An extremely lustrous and vibrant pair, each of which offer a great gilt nature to the toning and wondrous iridescence. Includes original box of issue.

 

A businessman and aviator as well as a solo sailor, Sir Francis Chichester became famous first for his adventurous aviation, landing his de Havilland Gipsy Moth aircraft on remote lands like Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands in the South Pacific (being the first person to do so). Later in life, he turned to solo sailing, navigating his ketch Gipsy Moth IV from Plymouth all the way around the world, returning 226 days later in May 1967. Just a few weeks later in July, Chichester was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, with the monarch using the sword her namesake, Elizabeth I, used for the knighting of Sir Francis Drake upon his circumnavigation of the world in 1581.

 

Upload: 3 November 2025.