Royal Society Cook Memorial Medal

The Royal Society commissioned this medal to commemorate the death of Captain James Cook in 1779. The obverse depicts a bust of Cook in naval uniform with the legend  “IAC COOK OCEANI INVESTIGATOR ACERRIMVS” ["The Most Intrepid Investigator of the Seas"]. The reverse shows Fortuna leaning on a Naval column, with a sceptre in one hand and a rudder in the other. The legend on the reverse reads “NIL INTENTATUM NOSTRI LIQVERE” ["Our Men Have Left Nothing Unattempted"].

 

This medal is one of the 22 which are believed to have been struck in gold; 322 examples were struck in silver and 577 in bronze. It is believed that only 7 of the gold medals have survived.

 

Cook’s death

 

Cook’s third voyage began in 1776 with the intention of finding ‘the north-west passage’ around the American continent. In February 1779, Cook was killed in a conflict between his crew and the local people of Hawai’i. 

 

The Royal Society

 

Cook was a Fellow of the Royal Society. The Society was founded in London in 1660 with the aim to promote and support science. The Society’s motto is Nullius in verba, Latin for “Take nobody’s word for it,” which emphasises the Society’s commitment to establish facts via experimentation.