This is a Baltic Medal issued in AD 1856 by the British government to recognise the efforts of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and sappers who patrolled and blockaded the Baltic Sea during the Crimean War. Members of the French Navy who participated in joint operations were also eligible for the award. A total of 61,109 medals were issued.
This miniature version closely resembles the official issue. The obverse features the left-facing bust of Queen Victoria from her youth, a design widely used on British medals during the early period of her reign. The inscription on either side of the portrait reads VICTORIA REGINA (Queen Victoria).
The reverse of the medal depicts Britannia, facing right while holding a trident in her right hand and looking over her shoulder. Her left arm rests on a square pedestal adorned with a relief of a cannon. Flanking the pedestal are depictions of two significant fortresses: Bomarsund in the Åland Islands and Sveaborg near Helsinki, Finland. These fortresses were key sites of conflict between Anglo-French forces and Russian defenders in the Baltic region during the Crimean War. The inscription “BALTIC” appears along the upper edge of the medal, with the years “1854-1855” engraved at the bottom.
The medal features a swivel scroll suspension with claw in a petal design at the top, connecting to a ribbon of lemon-yellow with pale blue stripes. Interestingly, the ribbon colours of the Baltic Medal are an inversion of those used for the Crimea Medal. At the top of the ribbon is a rectangular plaque, the reverse of which is inscribed with the jeweler’s name, “E&E. EMANUEL”.
The Crimean War’s theatres of conflict extended far beyond the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula. To blockade Russia’s formidable Baltic Fleet and its capital, St. Petersburg, Anglo-French forces formed a joint naval fleet to operate in the Baltic Sea. Despite their efforts, the blockade and bombardments achieved limited success. Beyond the Black Sea and Baltic regions, the war also spread to the Arctic-adjacent White Sea and even to the Pacific side, notably around the Kamchatka Peninsula.
