NUMISMAGRAM SELECTIONS: JUNE 2021

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V24 2021 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 24, Number 23, June 6, 2021, Article 16

Jeremy Bostwick at Numismagram passed along these highlights from his most recent addition of new tokens and art medals to his website. In particular, the refined elegance of Art Nouveau and Neoclassicism is in opposition to the powerful and moving—and sometimes haunting—imagery created during the chaos of World War I. To view all of these new items, please visit numismagram.com/inventory -Editor

Issued 1916. The First Battle of the Marne (68mm, 159.05 g, 12h). By J. P. Legastelois at the Paris mint. BATAILLE DE LA MARNE, jugate capped and uniformed busts right of the generals: Joseph Joffre, Michel-Joseph Maunoury, and Joseph Gallieni; on tablet below in two lines, SEPTEMBRE / 1914 / Marianne-Victory flying right, holding sword; battle scene below, with French and British forces repelling their German enemies. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE. Maier 231. Choice Mint State. Attractive olive-brown woodgrain surfaces, with a slight matte nature. $365.

A turning point in WWI, the Battle of the Marne halted the German advance further into France, with British and French allied forces repelling their German counterparts to the northwest and saving Paris, but ultimately leading to prolonged trench warfare along the western front, a stalemate that was to last for the remainder of the conflict.

Nicely done. It's hard to render so much detail into a medal, and the artist pulls it off well. Excellent medal. -Editor

Issued 1915. World War I series: The Ravages of War (60mm, 92.76 g, 12h). By B. H. Mayer's mint in Pforzheim. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—holding bomb, torch, sword, and scythe, respectively—riding left over the globe (focused upon the eastern hemisphere) plunging into the clouds; a bomb explodes over Eastern Europe / ZUR ERINNERUNG / AN DEN / WELTKRIEG / 1914/15 in five lines; all within wreath, with crossed sword and torch at ties. Edge: Plain. Cf. Zetzmann 2132 (silver; smaller module). Choice Mint State. Alluring brown-bronze surfaces. $275.

As both sides of this first global war began to dig in, the immense scale and tremendous toll began to emerge, as advancements in technology allowed for far greater devastation and ravages to unfold. This medal quite appropriately portrays the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, plunging the entire globe into chaos and destruction, with grenades—a new aspect to contemporary warfare—being hurled by one of the riders.

Issued 1928. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of his pneumatic tire patent (60x51mm, 100.34 g, 12h). By R. Baudichon at Arthus-Bertrand in Paris. J. B. DUNLOP, bust of Dunlop facing; to left, biplane, motorcycle, automobile, and bicycle; in three lines in exergue, 1888 40e ANNIVERSAIRE 1928 / DE LA FOUNDATION / DE L'INDUSTRIE DU PNEUMATIQUE / Workers in a forest tapping rubber trees; in panel below, factory view between laurel branches, with legend above and below: VISITE • DES • USINES • DUNLOP • A • MONTLUCON • ALLIER / SOCIETE • ANONYME • DES • PNEUMATIQUES • DUNLOP (factory tour of the Dunlop facilities at Montluçon, Allier). Edge: BRONZE «triangle». Joos 565; Hans Kaiser –. Mint State. Olive-brown surfaces, with some underlying brilliance. A great type featuring multiple modes of transportation. $325.

A Scottish inventor who spent most of his life in Ireland, John Boyd Dunlop became famous for his eponymous tire company—Dunlop. Though he patented the pneumatic tire for bicycles in 1888, he later found out that a patent had previously been awarded for the concept in 1847, coincidentally to another Scot—Robert William Thomson. Nevertheless, Dunlop's tires were well marketed and promoted, with the company emerging at a crucial point, growing along with the invention of the automobile and, shortly thereafter, aircraft. All of these forms of transportation are shown on this commemorative plaque, with the cultivation and collection of latex from rubber trees shown on the reverse.

Nice. I'd never seen this one before. -Editor

Issued 1865. The restoration of the Imperial Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe (28mm, 8.08 g, 6h). By C. Ocampo. MAXIMILIANO EMPERADOR, bare head left / NON FECIT TALITER OMNI NATIONI, Our Lady of Guadalupe, as represented on the venerated cloak enshrined with the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Edge: Plain. Grove 117a. Choice About Uncirculated. Deeply toned. A scarce medal from the brief Empire of Maximilian. $295.

Emanating from five Marian apparitions in December 1531 and a subsequent venerated image upon a cloak, the Virgin of Guadalupe is a Catholic title associated with the Virgin Mary in Mexico. The cloak resides in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, and is the world's third-most visited sacred site—and the first in the Catholic World. During the brief Empire of Maximiliano, an imperial order was restored in the Virgin's honor, it having been first created under Mexico's first empire and emperor, Agustín I Iturbide. Maximiliano was of Austrian descent from the mighty Habsburg ruling family (he was a younger brother of Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Joseph), installed as emperor under the auspices of the French, the latter hoping to extend their influence in Mexico. The empire was short lived, however, as Maximiliano was dethroned a little after three years, being captured and executed by Republican forces.

Apropos of nothing, I came up with the name for our puppy - Maximilian, thinking "Emperor". My wife brought him back from the vet with his paperwork filled out as "Maximillion". Of course, nobody calls him either of those - usually it's just Max, but also Max the Dog, Maxwell Dog, Max the Wonderdog, Maxipoo, Maxipad, you name it. -Editor

Issued circa 1920. The Sinking of the RMS Lusitania (54mm, 72.96 g, 12h). By R. Baudichon in Paris. VLTRIX AMERICA JVRIS (America, the defender of the just) / 1917 USA 1918, upper part of the Statue of Liberty rising from the Atlantic Ocean, holding sword in place of torch / LVSITANIA MAY 7 1915, stern of the Lusitania above the ocean, in the process of sinking; capsized lifeboat in foreground; above, vignette containing a drowning child. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE. Jones, Dance of Death, 27; The Art of Devastation, p. 310, 99. Gem Mint State. Light yellow-brown surfaces, with a pleasing matte nature. A powerful and historically interesting piece relating to America's build up to World War I. Compare to a similar medal in Stack's Bowers April 2020 CCO (lot 30039), which realized a total of $780. $645.

Not long after the German warning against sea travel into her 'war zone' declared upon Great Britain, a popular liner—the RMS Lusitania—was torpedoed 11 miles off the coast of Ireland, where over 60% of her passengers, some of whom were Americans, were killed. Serving as a rallying cry against the German Empire, this action solidified American involvement in World War I.