Jul 22, 2016 3 min read

Someone else could have bought an unusual metal object on eBay and had it melted down. But Matthew Campbell went to a meeting on medals sponsored by a coin collectors’ club in Washington and wound up with quite a find on eBay.

It was a Carnegie Hero Medal containing 5 ½ ounces of pure silver, but the story doesn’t end there.

Because of Campbell’s efforts to track down the recipient of the medal, an anonymous gravesite in Illinois will soon have a marker letting those who visit the cemetery know they are in the presence of a hero.

According to research, Campbell was able to find through the Macoupin County Historical Society, in June 1904, bricklayer Ivah J. Coles, 21, and Richard Crumwell, 20, a carpenter, were swimming in a reservoir near East St. Louis. They climbed a steep, high bank, but Crumwell fell into the water and began to sink. From the bank, Coles waded into the water in an attempt to save Crumwell from drowning but became submerged within eight feet of his friend. The men’s bodies were found in water 10 to 12 feet deep.

That same year, in Pittsburgh, steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie set up a fund and accompanying medal bearing his image to recognize civilians in the United States and Canada who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

Coles’ mother in 1908 was presented with a silver Carnegie Hero Medal, one of first few dozen recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission based in Pittsburgh.

According to the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists, Carnegie Hero Medals are so prized as heirlooms by the recipients and members of their families that they are rarely put up for sale.

The seller in this case was a jeweler in O’Fallon, Mo., who purchased it from someone who cashed it in for its silver content. Of the nearly 10,000 Carnegie medals, just 617 are silver. Most are bronze, according to the Pennsylvania numismatists.

The local historical society in Carlinville, Ill., found Coles’ unmarked grave in Bunker Hill (Ill.) Cemetery. Campbell, the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists, the historical society and various contributors gave money to pay for a memorial plaque and Carnegie Hero grave marker supplied by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

One hundred and eight years after Coles’ mother was given the medal, a graveside ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. Aug. 24.

According to the numismatists’ group, Coles’ medal will be exhibited at the Macoupin County Historical Society Ruyle Building at a reception. A photograph of it will continue to be displayed there while the medal will shown at the association’s semiannual conventions in Pittsburgh and, potentially, other events around the country.

“I’ve only been collecting for a few years, and if not for a presentation on medals at a George Washington club meeting, I wouldn’t have known what to look for to recognize this as something special,” Campbell wrote in an email, noting that Tom Uram is local club president.