WWl R.M.S. Lusitania Medal

Cast Iron Medal commemorating the sinking of RMS Lusitania. Retaining the original cardboard box printed with a view of the ship and a record of her sinking in 1915.

3 1/8 inches x 3 1/8 inches

The German medal was designed by Karl Goetz as a criticism of the Cunard Line for selling tickets with little regard for the German U-Boat warnings in the newspapers. This iron replica, funded in large part by Gordon Selfridge of department store fame, was proclaimed to have been struck ‘in German, with the object of keeping alive in German hearts the recollection of the glorious achievement of the German Navy in deliberately destroying an unarmed passenger ship, together with 1198 non-combatants, men, women and children.

A medal such as this formed part of King George V’s War Museum at Windsor Castle. Much of this collection was loaned to the Imperial War Museum in 1936 at the suggestion of King Edward VIII.