“All medals tell a story and half the fun is finding the story or even just doing the research,” says Journal antiques columnist and Brown & Co auctioneer Craig Bewick . . .

The Victorian medal that we feature this month was one of a number of things that were brought into a Thursday morning discovery session at Brigg by a local couple who were having a clear out. It was not a family piece.

Their questions: “Is it interesting – and is it worth anything?”

Like all medals, it is certainly interesting: It is, in fact, an India 1895 medal, with the clasps for Tirah 1897-98 and Punjab Frontier 1897-98.The medal was issued to forces involved in the Indian frontier wars in the late 19th century.

The situation on the North West frontier of India (an area that is now part of Pakistan) and Afghanistan was that a religious leader – dubbed “the Mad Mullah” by the British press – had stirred up the local tribesmen. A punitive expedition to quash the trouble resulted in a general uprising

Some 114 years later, it all sounds eerily familiar, does it not?

The first stage of the conflict saw a small British garrison at Chitral Fort – just 419 fighting men – besieged by a force of 3,000 – 5,000 rebels. They held out for 47 days until a relief column arrived.

Things settled down, but not for long. In 1897 a considerably more serious uprising took place. Faced with rebel forces estimated at up to 50,000 men, a British force of 35,000 British and Indian troops under General Sir William Lockhart was dispatched at the start of the Tirah Expedition of 1897-98.

The early stages of the campaign produced one of the legendary heroes of the late Victorian Empire: On 20th October, the Gordon Highlanders were ordered to attack the heights at Dargai, which gave the rebels control of an important pass.

In the front rank as the Gordons stormed into a hail of bullets was Piper George Findlater. He was wounded in both legs and even his bagpipes were shot, but he played on (“The Haughs of Cromdale”) until he passed out.

The Gordons took the heights and Piper Findlater was invalided home, receiving the Victoria Cross from the Queen in hospital in Southampton in May the following year. He became a huge celebrity, surviving his experience by 45 years, dying in his bed in 1942. His VC is now displayed in the Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen.

Now if that medal ever came up for auction – which, of course, it never will – then you really would be talking telephone numbers. But back to our India Medal. The decoration was instituted in 1896, initially as an award for the defenders and relievers of Chitral Fort, but it was later extended to men who had served in other stages of the frontier war.

The Medal was issued in silver and bronze and is 36 mm in diameter. On one side we have a veiled and crowned bust of Queen Victoria, with the words Victoria Regina et Imperatrix. The other side shows British and Indian soldiers supporting a flag.

The names of recipients of the medal was inscribed around the edge in script. It can be difficult to read, indeed we drove ourselves crazy trying to work out the name on this medal.

We had the man’s number (56835), his rank (Corporal) and his regiment (RHA, Royal Horse Artillery). He may have been a member of K Battery. With that information, plus a little time and patience, it would certainly be possible to get the name.

The ribbon is red with two green stripes. The corporal was awarded the Tirah and Punjab Frontier clasps. Other clasps that were awarded with this medal include Relief of Chitral, Malakand 1897, Samana 1897 and Waziristan 1901-02.

As all this indicates, medals are a very interesting field of collecting, providing physical links with the most extraordinary people and historical events. It is quite something to have in you hands a medal that was pinned on the tunic of one of the men who fought the Mad Mullah’s rebels; who could even have heard the skirling of the pipes as the Gordon Highlanders stormed the heights at Dargai.

As I mentioned, there are a lot of collectors and they are very active. Any interesting medal included in an auction will produce calls from people all over the country and even further afield.

Whilst not incredibly rare, medals from this period are not that common either. Unlike the great conflicts of the 20th century, which involved millions of fighting men, the battles and campaigns of the Victorian period were relatively small-scale affairs and therefore fewer decorations were issued. Some remain in families, others are lost over time. When the India Medal went under the hammer earlier this year it sold for £155, snapped up by an East Midlands militaria dealer. On the same day a Lincolnshire Regiment WW1 Star and Victory Medal went for £105 and a lot of three WW1 Medals awarded to different soldiers sold for £60.