MEDALS awarded to two Cornish naval officers who were in the Royal Navy at the same time as Lord Nelson are to be sold within moments of each other for up to £26,000 at an auction.

One of the two 1793-1840 Naval General Service medals was presented to Callington-born Captain George Haye, who joined the Royal Navy in 1801, four years before the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson.

The other was awarded to Torpoint-born Lieutenant Benjamin Hooper, who joined the Royal Navy in 1798, the year Lord Nelson masterminded victory against the French at the Battle of the Nile.

But both Haye and Hooper had to wait more than 35 years for the honour as the Naval General Service medal was not introduced until 1847. It is known that both men were alive then as they had to be living to claim the silver medal, featuring an image of the young Queen Victoria.

Now 150 years later their medals are up for sale and they are expected to fetch up to £26,000 at Spink in Bloomsbury, London, today.

They are among 94 1793-1840 Naval General Service medals put up for sale by collector Chris Turl, which could sell for around £500,000.

Hooper's medal, which has pre-sale estimates of £14,000 to £18,000, is the more valuable because it features a unique combination of three clasps for different naval actions: Off Mardoe July 1812, London March 13, 1806; and October 12, 1798.

Haye's medal, which has pre-sale estimates of £6,000 to £8,000, features two clasps Pelagosa November 29, 1811 and Lissa.

Altogether 232 clasps were produced for the 1793-1840 Naval General Service medal for various sea battles and skirmishes during that period, and Trafalgar, because of its importance and mystique, is the most sought-after.

The maximum number of clasps any one man could have obtained is seven and only two people were awarded seven clasps.

Captain Haye, from Callington, was particularly lucky to have got his medal in the 1840s, as he was severely wounded at the Battle of Pelagosa, in the Adriatic, on November 29, 1811.

Lieutenant Hooper, from Torpoint, was present in HMS London during the capture of the French ship of the line Marengo and the frigate Belle Poule after a five hour running battle off the Azores in 1806, and other assignments included the escort of King Ferdinand of Naples.