A collection of 15 medals awarded to Ernest Shackleton are to cross the block at Christie's on October 8.
Each will be offered as a single lot.
 The Royal Geographic Society awarded Shackleton the medal in 1904 |
A Royal Geographic Society silver medal will provide one of the highlights. It's expected to make £20,000-40,000 ($30,912-61,824).
Christie's comments: "Sir Ernest Shackleton never became what he had long hoped to — the first man to reach the South Pole. He was beaten to it in 1911 by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen.
"Yet a century after what's now known as the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration, his name lives on in a way that those of his rivals do not…
"He was recognised for this during his lifetime, and became the most decorated of all polar explorers, being awarded more than 40 medals and awards.
"Fifteen of these medals are to go on sale at Christie's South Kensington on 8 October, and each of them tell a chapter in the life of this remarkable man."
Shackleton memorabilia is hugely popular, and the medals could well make significantly over their estimates when they come to auction.
In 2013, a pair of medals awarded to AF Mackay, a doctor aboard Shackleton's Nimrod expedition (1907-1909), sold for £48,000 ($77,237).
A rare copy of Shackleton's Aurora Australis will auction at Sotheby's on September 30.
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