1931 SPAIN EGYPT SOCIEDAD DE BENEFICENCIA ESPANOLA SILVER AWARD MEDAL

Description

YOU ARE BIDDING ON 1931 SPAIN EGYPT SOCIEDAD DE BENEFICENCIA ESPANOLA SILVER AWARD MEDAL
Diameter: 38mm; Weight: 23.11 gms. Awarded by Alfredo Assir, Spanish consul in Egypt on behalf of the Spanish Charitable Society (
S
ociedad de
B
eneficencia
E
spanola). Obverse: SBE monogram above engraved legend in four lines: "ALFREDO ASSIR / CONSUL DE ESPANA / AL VENCEDOR / 29-III-1931"; all within wreath; Reverse: Crowned coat-of-arms between garlanded Pillars of Hercules; engraved laurel branch to left and right; 1931 below.
Edge
: Plain.
An unusual piece, it has the appearance of a Spanish 8 Reales worn down for engraving outside of the reverse coat-of-arms (which is also a symbol of the society, though with the lower two panels of the shield altered). Instead, it appears simply to have that element as the only struck device, while the remainder of the fields blank for subsequent engraving. Assir served as the Spanish consul in Cairo, Egypt at the time, and assisted in the dedication of the newly-opened Spanish school in Cairo on 11 January 1931. This medal appears to have been awarded shortly thereafter (29 March) in association with the society. For more information regarding this opening and the cultural centers in Egypt, see pp. 233-5 here (en espanol):
https://issuu.com/publicacionesaecid/docs/el_instituto_hispano_arabe_de_cultu/234