Description:
English bronze medal, 1819
Diameter 45mm
The obverse features a full image of James Watt seated with a pair of compasses in his right hand and sheets of paper in his left, resting on his lap. The inscription reads 'JAMES WATT/BORN 18 JANNARY 1736/DIED 25 AUGUST 1819'. The reverse features the coat of arms of James Watt, a shield bearing the caduceus crossed over a club with the legend 'INGENIO ET LABORE', which translates as 'By natural ability and hard work'. The inscription around the outside reads 'HIS OBSEQUIES AT HANDSWORTH STAFFORDSHIRE' and the date below is 'SEPr 2nd 1819'. James Watt was a Scottish inventor and engineer whose work on the steam engine led to vastly improved steam power. Watt's steam engines were made at the Soho Foundry of Matthew Boulton. Some have labelled Watt's improved steam engine as one of the key inventions which brought about the Industrial Revolution.