British Art Medal Society

The British Art Medal Society has commissioned medals from many distinguished contemporary sculptors, including Lynn Chadwick, Nigel Hall, John Maine, Paul Neagu and Michael Sandle; gun and glass engravers such as Malcolm Appleby and Ronald Pennell; medallists and coin designers such as Ron Dutton, Robert Elderton and Michael Rizzello; jewellers such as Kevin Coates, Jacqueline Stieger and Fred Rich; the cartoonist Ronald Searle and the poet, gardener and moralist Ian Hamilton Finlay.

The medals are sold, to members only, at very little more than the cost of production and in this way the British Art Medal Society has made it possible to buy original sculpture by a wide range of contemporary artists extremely cheaply.

Each issue is limited to a maximum of 100, usually depending on the number sold, and is open for 18 months, after which the edition is declared. Past issues have varied from about 10 to 100.

The British Art Medal Society is non profit making, run by its members through an elected committee and linked to a charity, the British Art Medal Trust.

Besides commissioning contemporary medals it issues a journal The Medal, published twice yearly and containing illustrated articles on historical and contemporary medals, organises regular meetings and conferences, and gives advice to individuals or companies who wish to commission medals.

Giving and Receiving, the BAMS President’s Medal designed by Danuta Solowiej, has been awarded since 2009, and the Marsh Award for the Encouragement of Medallic Art since 2011. A list of recipients to date can be found here.

President: Rick Scorza
Vice Presidents: Philip Attwood, Ron Dutton, Mark Jones
Secretaries: Abigail Burt, Ian d’Alton, Janet Larkin, Marcy Leavitt Bourne
Treasurer: Eldon Allison

Council: Chris Barker, Julian Cross, Louise Dentice, Tom Hockenhull, Kate Ive, Jo Naden, Natasha Ratcliffe, Livia Turnbull.