BONHAMS, the international fine art auction house with an office at Bedale, is sending a team of coin and medal experts back to County Durham and North Yorkshire in search of more interesting finds following the recent discovery of a rare medal.

The Seringapatam Medal, awarded to Capt G M O'Connell, will be sold in Bonhams' saleroom in Knightsbridge, London, on Tuesday and is expected to fetch between £1,500 and £2,000.

Capt O'Connell was awarded the medal in recognition of the part he played in the defeat of the despotic Tippoo Sultan, sovereign of Mysore, India.

This little known late 18th century ruler terrorised the area around Mysore until he was defeated at the battle of Seringapatam in 1799 in a campaign led by Lord Cornwallis.

John Millensted, head of Bonhams' coins and medals department, said: "This medal is rare and extremely collectable and we hope to find similarly interesting items on our return to the area.

"We will be searching for those hidden treasures that are gathering dust in attics and at the back of cupboards. I would particularly like to see medals from the First and Second World Wars and I am always searching for gallantry awards."

The Bonhams team, including representatives from the coins and medals, books, stamps and arms and armour departments, will be at the Durham Light Infantry Museum on July 13 and the firm's Bedale office on July 14. More information about the valuation days from 01677 424114.

* A RARE medal awarded to a soldier from the Green Howards will be auctioned in Leyburn tomorrow.

Auctioneers Tennants have been instructed to sell a rare Gallantry Group medal, expected to fetch between £1,000 and £1,500, which was awarded to L Cpl Colin Helmn of the Green Howards.

He joined the army on National Service and within months was posted to Malaya in 1952, where British forces faced communist terrorists attempting to destabilise the colony.

Promoted to Lance Corporal, he led small groups into the jungle to fight a guerrilla war against the insurgents and was credited with half a dozen kills within a year and killed the Battalion's 99th and 100th enemy insurgents.

He was recommended for a Gallantry Group medal for sustained bravery in dangerous conditions.

The medal and other items will sold in tomorrow's Militaria Items Sale at 10am; viewing is today from 9am-7pm.