A MEDAL presented to Grimsby trawlerman who helped protect Britain's coast during the First World War has made the highest price for such an award at auction.
The George V medal for distinguished service was presented to G M Barnes for his work in the Dover Patrols on February 14 and 15, 1916.
With fierce competition from collectors in the room and on the telephone, the medal sold for a hammer price of £380, well above its pre-sale estimate of between £150 and £200, at the sale at auctioneers Golding Young And Mawer.
Auctioneer John Leatt said: "It was unusual for a medal such as this to come onto the open market because very few were awarded for service during the First World War to civilians.
"With its strong Lincolnshire connection, we expected a lot of interest before the sale, but the level of competition was unprecedented.
"It finally sold for £380 which is the highest price such a medal has ever made at auction and almost double the price of a similar medal which was sold locally some time ago."
The Dover Patrol was one of the most important Royal Navy Commands of the First World War.
Its primary task was to prevent enemy German ships and submarines from entering the English Channel en route to the Atlantic Ocean.
Its duties in the North Sea and the Dover Strait included carrying out anti-submarine patrols, escorting merchantmen, hospital and troop ships, laying sea mines and sweeping up German mines.
All number of vessels were involved, including armed trawlers, cruisers, destroyers, paddle minesweepers, armed yachts, motor launches, coastal motor boats, submarines, seaplanes, aeroplanes and airships.
After the war, in July 1921, a memorial was unveiled at Leathercote Point near St Margaret's Bay, Dover.
Meanwhile, among a number of paintings up for auction on the same day, was a signed oil on canvas, dated 1830, of an Italianate coastal scene with sailing boats and a rocky outcrop in the manner of the artist James William Giles.
It sold for £1,500, well over its £800 to £1,200 estimate, on behalf of the Lincolnshire Air Ambulance.
A violin made by Herbert W Tyson of Louth (b. 1878) in 1928 sold for £380 against an estimate of £200 to £300.
Among ten longcase clocks in the sale, which were expected to sell for between £200 and £1,000 each, an Edwardian mahogany clock retailed by AC Pailthorpe Jewellers of Grimsby was expected to sell for between £500 and £800 and made a hammer price of £2,000.
The clock was unusual as it had a musical chime striking on nine gongs.
For more antiques news, see todays Property Telegraph.
