School & Education Awards

Lot 2003    Day 2    School & Education Awards

Estimate $1,500
Bid at live.noble.com.au

AUCKLAND GRAMMAR SCHOOL, struck in bronze (51mm), no maker, reverse inscribed 'Steeplechase/Under 16/P.Collett/1934'; another identical, reverse inscribed '1 Mile Champ./Open/P.Collett'; NZAAA (New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association), Lovelock Athletic Meeting, Auck(land) Centre, 1936, in bronze (29.5x32mm), by A.Kohn (Adolph Kohn, Auckland), with rectangular top suspension, reverse inscribed '1 Mile/Hdcp/2nd/P.Collett/Jun'; N.B.H.S (Napier Boys High School), struck in gold (9ct, 5.61g, 28mm), no maker, ring top suspension, reverse inscribed '1937/Athletics/P.Collett./Senr. Champ'; another identical, struck in gold (9ct, 4.94g, 28mm), no maker, ring top suspension, reverse inscribed 'Athletics/P.Collett/Senior Champion (Equal)/1938'. The first three with some areas of light oxidation and the last with a small dent, otherwise very fine, the third medal rare. (4)

The Lovelock Athletic Meeting was named in honour of Jack Lovelock who set a world mile record of 4min 7.6sec at Princeton in 1933, won the mile event at the 1934 Empire Games held in London in 4min 12.8sec and then won the 1,500 metres at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games in a world record time. He is the only New Zealander to have held the world 1,500 metres and mile records. He was an outstanding sportsman from his school days in various sports as well as being an outstanding academic being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1930. He qualified as a doctor but suffered his own health problems. On 28 December 1949, while returning from work in Manhattan, USA due to feeling unwell, he fell under a subway train and was killed instantly.