Medal commemorating the end of the Crimean War, 1856

Made of silver, issued by the city of Nottingham.

This medal issued by the city of Nottingham is unusual as comparatively few 'public' medals commemorating the Crimean War (1854-1856) were struck, in contrast to the output of medals following previous British military campaigns, notably the Peninsular War of 1808-1814. A greater number of medals were produced to commemorate the reopening of the Crystal Palace in 1854 than events in the Crimea, suggesting that the interests of the emerging Victorian middle classes lay more in the fields of trade, industry and the accumulation of knowledge, than in military achievements.