Silver 1800s Afghanistan medal sells for double its estimate
The silver Afghanistan 1878-1880 medal belonged to Private William Belcher, the fifth of eight children of Shaw cowman, James Belcher and wife, Esther.
It went under the hammer for £320 at an auction at Spink in Bloomsbury, London, on Thursday, having been expected to sell for between £100 and £140.
It was bought by a mystery bidder.
Although army records say he was born in 1851, William Belcher was actually born in Shaw in the third quarter of 1853, and was only fifteen or sixteen when he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion, Berkshire Regiment.
He served in India and Afghanistan from February 1870 to January 1881 and took part in the second Anglo-Afghan War between 1878 and 1880, for which he received the medal.