Reference:5776 Newcastle upon Tyne Tramway Extension Across the High Level Bridge, 1923

An inscription upon panel above the Newcastle upon Tyne High Level Bridge.

The standing figure of Mercury in a pose of ecstasy.

Edge inscribed: A.M. OLIVER ESQ. TOWN CLERK.

By Lomax.

Silvered-bronze. 65 mm.

Condition: Very fine.

Notes:

This medal is only recorded in a smaller diameter of 51 mm. With a specially-prepared engraved edge, named to the city diginitary, it suggests that a few specimens may have been made for presentation, though this is the only one thus far recorded.

The contractors were the celebrated firm of civil engineers Sir William Arrol & Co of Glasgow and the high-level bridge was opened to rail and road traffic on 21 December 1922. The tramway service, which was open to the public on 12 January 1922, had been inaugurated two days earlier by a party of local dignitaries, who were conveyed from Newcastle to Gateshead and back to the Town Hall in Newcastle, where a celebration lunch was held and when, as seem likely, this medal was presented.