NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: APRIL 2022

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V25 2022 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 25, Number 15, April 10, 2022, Article 21

Numismagram's Jeremy Bostwick forwarded along these three medals from his recent April upload of new medals to his website. For all of these new items, please visit numismagram.com/inventory. -Editor

101921 | UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Hamburg America Line silver Award Medal. Engraved 1928 and presented to Max Meisner for 25 years of service (37mm, 20.16 g, 12h). By J. Lanca. Personifications of navigation (female and resting hand upon anchor) and commerce (male and holding caduceus over shoulder) standing to left and right of altar bearing both halves of the globe unified by ribbon reading MEIR FELD IST DER WELT (my field is the world) and set upon base reading IM ZEICHEN / DES VERKEHRS (dedicated to shipping); in background, two ships upon the sea / Cartouche with inscription "MAX MEISNER 1903–1928"; legend reading IN ANERKENNUNG / TREUER DIENSTE / HAMBURG– / AMERIKA– / LINIE in five lines; company logo and oak branch curling to left. Edge: HM. SILBER 990; loop attached at the top. Choice Mint State. Attractively toned, with some rose-gold highlights in the reverse field. $175.

The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG) was a transatlantic shipping enterprise that was based in Hamburg, Germany and routinely serviced ports in America, establishing a close connection between the two nations. It eventually became one of the world's largest shipping operations, and served the growing number of German immigrants in the United States. It ceased as an entity in its own right with its merger with North German Lloyd in 1970.

A busy design, but an interesting medal nonetheless. -Editor

102022 | GERMANY. Paul Ehrlich bronze Medal. Issued 1910. Commemorating the 56th birthday of the Nobel Prize recipient and breakthrough researcher on the treatment of syphilis (60mm, 98.40 g, 12h). By K. Goetz. PAVL • EHRLICH • ÆTATIS • ANNO • LVI • MCMX, bust right in frock coat / Nude Asclepius standing left, holding staff and feeding serpent from patera; CORPORA / NON / AGVNT - NISI FIXATA (Ehrlich's maxim: a drug will not work unless it is bound) across field. Edge: Plain. Kienast 43. Gem Mint State. Glossy brown surfaces, with a very slight matte nature. Quite rare, especially this attractive and alluring. $495.

Paul Ehrlich was an important German physician and scientist who contributed greatly to the field of immunology. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1908 for the standardization of manufacturing anti-diphtheria serum, he actually garnered even more fame through a discovery with fellow researcher, Sahachiro Hata from Japan. This breakthrough involved arsphenamine (also known as Salvarsan or compound 606) and was the first effective treatment for syphilis. This incredibly important treatment further led to Ehrlich's concept of the "magic bullet" (i.e., the idea that it would be possible to kill a bacteria or disease within one's body by using a targeted treatment without harming the body itself), and also served as the foundation to the concept of chemotherapy. The contributions of Ehrlich and Sata cannot be understated, especially when considering the importance of public health and the medical researchers tasked with maintaining it.

An important medical medal. Great surfaces. -Editor

101967 | UNITED STATES & SWEDEN. Gustaf V/Centennial of Swedish Pioneers in America silver Medal. Issued 1948 (38mm, 32.59 g, 12h). By L. Holmgren at the Stockholm mint. GUSTAVUS • V REX • SVECIÆ, head left; crown above / View of the globe highlighting outline of the eastern half of North America (reading AMERIKA) and the Scandinavian peninsula (reading SVERIGE); clouds above and below, with polar star, five geese flying westward, and six line legend: TILL MINNE AV / DE SVENSKA PIONJÄRERNA / TO THE COMMEMORATION / OF THE SWEDISH / PIONEERS / 1848–1948. Edge: MV SILVER 1948; includes clasp and ribbon. Rulau –. Mint State details. Deep gunmetal gray surfaces, with a few subtle abrasions accounting for the designation. $395.

The seemingly endless opportunities present in the vast and expanding American midwest caused waves of Swedish pioneers to emigrate from Sweden around and shortly after 1848. Areas of Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan, in particular, saw a great deal of Swedish immigration, with that Scandinavian history present to this day. In commemoration of the centennial of this first wave of pioneers, this award medal was issued, paralleling the celebrations from a decade prior for Sweden's colonial foothold in and around what is now Delaware.

A nice medal. My own heritage is part Swedish. -Editor