New Zealand Cross to Dr Isaac Featherston sells for $215,190 a record price for a medal sold at auction in New Zealand.

We are proud to have sold one of New Zealand’s most important medals in our record 20 March 2026 numismatic auction. The New Zealand Cross to Dr Isaac Featherston.

Only 23 New Zealand Crosses were ever awarded to Volunteers during the turbulent 1860s–70s, making it the rarest British gallantry decoration - far scarcer than the Victoria Cross. With most surviving crosses held in museums, opportunities for collectors to acquire one are almost unheard of.

Dr Featherston, a towering figure in early New Zealand politics, was the first elected Superintendent of Wellington Province from 1853 to 1871. He championed democratic government, secured the shift of Parliament from Auckland to Wellington in 1865, and fought for compensation for settlers misled by the New Zealand Company - even duelling William Wakefield in the process. His leadership helped lay the foundations of Wellington’s roading and shipping infrastructure.

While keeping peace with Wellington Māori, Featherston’s mana led Māori allied to the Government to call him to lead them and so in 1866, he earned his New Zealand Cross for bravery under fire.

We also sold the very first Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying) awarded to a New Zealander - Leslie Wallace of Invercargill – for $22,000. Wallace received the medal in 1942 after saving a Lancaster bomber over Germany by pushing burning marker flares out of the aircraft while wounded and under constant fire.