Since the accession of her Majesty medals have been awarded for every campaign, as well as others for 'meritorious service,' 'long service,' &c. Besides the medals issued by the authority of the Crown and those of the East India Company, there are a number of Regimental medals, of which some are exhibited. These were struck at the expense of the officers of the regiments for distribution among those who served under them; but this custom ceased when a public acknowledgment was paid to the services of the army. The medals issued by the East India Company, being mostly of Indian work, have been classed separately, and will be found at the end of the series. As they were generally awarded only to Native troops, they are for the most part very scarce. [Sidenote: METHOD OF PRODUCTION.] Before proceeding to give some account of the medallists[1] themselves, it may be useful to state shortly in what manner they accomplished their work. This was done in four different ways, by casting, by the repoussé process, by engraving, and by striking. Specimens of all kinds of work will be found in this exhibition. [1] Biographical notices of the medallists, whose works are exhibited, are given with the descriptions of the medals. These can be found by reference to the Index of Artists at p. 143. In the case of casting, a method which was first adopted in Italy in the fourteenth century, the mode was sometimes elaborate. A model having been made in wax, it was painted over several times with layers of cement made of fine earth or charcoal stiffened with some kind of lye, until this dried and hardened upon the wax, and the foundation of a mould was formed. When the mould was finished and completely hardened, the wax was melted out, and the medal was then cast in some hard metal, gold, silver, or copper, or in lead. By this process the first mould was destroyed, and all subsequent ones had to be taken from the medals themselves; consequently in time, with each fresh casting, they became less sharp and perfect. Another method of casting was, after executing a model in wax, to make moulds from it in sand, in which the medal was then cast. By this means the original mould was not destroyed, and would serve for use any number of times. But these casts were not so successful as those made after the Italian method; and in order to remove from the surface the roughness of the casting, the medals were then submitted to the medallist's or goldsmith's hands to be chased. In this manner a smooth and sharp surface was obtained; but the chasing required to be very skilfully done. The castings in lead on account of the softness of the material took a much more even surface than in the case of the harder metals, and rarely required any after-chasing.