Medal
A small piece of metal, usually circular, struck or cast to give relief decoration on one or both sides. Medals can be made of bronze, silver, lead or gold and are comparable to coins in size, material, and decoration, but were not intended for use as currency. Portrait images typically decorate the front, whereas the back, if ornamented, usually displays an emblem, symbolic motif, narrative scene, and/or inscription that refers to the life or personality of the person on the front.
Queen Mary I
after Jacopo da Trezzo
19th century, based on a work of circa 1555
NPG 446(1)
Queen Elizabeth I
by Steven van Herwijck
1565
NPG 4294
Henry Scobell
by Thomas Simon
1649
NPG 4363
Oliver Cromwell ('The Dunbar Medal')
by Thomas Simon
1650
NPG 4365
Frances Teresa Stuart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox
cast of a medal by John Roettier
19th century, based on a work of circa 1667
NPG 1681
The Seven Bishops committed to the Tower in 1688
by George Bower
1688
NPG 152a
William Hunter
by Edward Burch
1774
NPG 6012
Edward Forbes
by Leonard Charles Wyon, after a bust by John Graham Lough
1856-1891, based on a work of 1856
NPG 1609
Henry Fawcett
by Mary Grant
1886
NPG 1086
Frank Hedges Butler
by William Morris
1923
NPG 6242
Neville Chamberlain
by Victor Demanet
1938
NPG 4268
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel
by Paul Vincze
1960
NPG 6195