Description

Medal to commemorate the gigantic pleasure wheel at Earl’s Court, London. Copper.

Obverse: the wheel with the legend: ‘GIGANTIC / WHEEL / 1897’

Reverse: legend on twelve lines:

‘THE
GIGANTIC WHEEL
AT EARLS COURT IS
284 FEET IN DIAMETER
& WEIGHS ABOUT 900 TONS.
THERE ARE 40 CARS. EACH
TO CARRY 30 PERSONS.
FROM THE TOP OF THE
WHEEL ABOUT 300 FEET
WINSOR CASTLE IS
VISIBLE TO THE
WEST’

The medal was struck in 1899. The wheel opened to the public on 6th July 1895 for the Empire of India Exhibition. The wheel last turned on the closing day of the Austrian Exhibition in October 1906.

This medal was collected by Professor Roland Paxton.