Heroism Award Found for Sale Online
CARLINVILLE, Ill. (WRSP) — A medal given to people performing acts of heroism, was discovered online -- for sale.
Thanks to the help of historians, the Carnegie Hero medal has come back home to central Illinois.
This Carnegie medal has traveled from Pennsylvania, which is more than 500 miles away, to Carlinville.
It joins two other medals at the Macoupin County Historical Society to be put on display.
“I said ‘this is clearly something special,’” said Matthew Campbell
Campbell is from Pennsylvania and spends his time online in search of rare coins.
Campbell didn't know he would come across a Carnegie medal for sale on eBay from a jeweler in Missouri.
“It's very rare to see any of these medals on the market,” said Campbell.
The silver medal is awarded to people who perform acts of heroism.
This one belonged to Ivah Coles from Macoupin County.
Coles jumped in to a reservoir near Benld to save the life of a man who went for a swim.
“Ivah Coles died attempting to save Richard Cromwell from drowning,” said Campbell.
The Carnegie hero also received a new plaque placed on his grave at Bunker Hill Cemetery.
“It's a piece of early history of America,” said MCHS website manager, David Jokisch.
“I don't feel like I own this medal. I feel like I'm its keeper, its guardian, its steward,” said Campbell.
Over the years, nearly 10,000 recipients have been honored throughout the United States and Canada.
Coles is one of the first to be honored from the 1904 Carnegie class.
