NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: OCTOBER 20, 2024

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V27 2024 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 27, Number 42, October 20, 2024, Article 17

Jeremy Bostwick with Numismagram forwarded these three medals from his upload of new Halloween-themed medallic art to his site. For all of the new items, please visit https://www.numismagram.com/inventory, and be on the lookout for more being added this week. Some great medals! -Editor

102943 | GREAT BRITAIN. Warwickshire. Birmingham. Copper Penny Token. Issued 1791 (34mm, 16.96 g, 12h). OUR FOOD IS SEDITION, winged and serpentine Monster of Sedition carrying flag with phrygian cap; four imps flying around (three of which are suckling from her numerous teats) // NOURISHED TO TORMENT, snake basking in long grass; the sun's rays above; in two lines in exergue, 14 JULY / 1791. Edge: A few scattered marks, otherwise plain. D&H 34; BHM 360. Extremely Fine. Warm brown surfaces; minor edge flaw noted for completeness. $395.

Alluding to the Birmingham riots of 1791 as well as the second anniversary of the French Revolution, this type remains exceptionally popular on account of its haunting imagery.

102694 | GERMANY. Franz Joseph Gall silver Medal. Issued 1805. Commemorating the founder of phrenology (40mm, 18.14 g, 12h). By Abraham Abramson in Berlin. IOSEPHO GALL ORGAN IN CEREBRO SCRVTATORI, bust right in frock coat // DISTRIBVIT PARTES ANIMAE SEDESQVE, skull facing right, with back turned toward the viewer; in two lines in exergue, AVDITOR BEROLINENS / MDCCCV. Edge: Plain. Brettauer 375; Hoffmann 208. PCGS MS-63. Deeply toned, with some enchanting brilliance in the fields. A very rare type, especially so enticing and attractive, and the only example observed in the PCGS census. $965.

Gall was a noted physiologist and neuroanatomist, and most well-known as the father of phrenology. From an early age, Gall was interested in the classification and differences in human abilities and tendencies. He began noting that these aptitudes could be linked to various areas of the brain, each responsible for different characteristics. The random bumps on one's skull were, he believed, due to pressure exerted by the brain from beneath. Wildly popular and accepted in his time, phrenology is now viewed entirely as a pseudoscience that has been repeatedly disproven. Nevertheless, the contributions which he made to modern neuroscience cannot be overlooked.

102562 | GERMANY & GREAT BRITAIN. Sinking of the HMS Courageous cast iron Medal. Dated 1939. "Totentanz (Dance of Death) Redux" type (70mm, 92.43 g, 12h). By Guido Goetz. DIE HIOBSBOTSCHAFT AN CHURCHILL (bad news for Churchill), Death, wearing cape, advancing right, holding scroll inscribed with a swastika and TORPED. / VON / DEUTSCH. / "U" / BOOT / 18 SEPT 1939 in six lines // RULE BRITANNIA!, the British Isles (as Neptune) standing left in the ocean, holding trident, hoisting the HMS Courageous over his shoulder, and wearing man purse decorated with Union Jack. Edge: Plain. Engstrom 4. PCGS MS-63. Charcoal-gray surfaces and charming relief. A haunting and scarce type. $965.

Carrying on the tradition of his father, Guido Goetz also had a career as a medalist, issuing some satirical pieces in the vein of the elder Goetz, Karl. Just as World War I and its aftermath were important to the work of the father, so too was that of World War II to the son, with a number of satirical medals designed with this backdrop. Drawing upon the skeletal approach of Walther Eberbach's Totentanz series, some of Guido's issues portray Death as a skeleton taking sadistic glee in the downfall of his enemies.

The HMS Courageous was built for the Royal Navy during World War I, serving as the class leader of the Courageous-class cruisers. Following the war, she was rebuilt as an aircraft carrier in the 1920's, being used in this role briefly during World War II. In the opening weeks of the war, not long after the torpedoing of the SS Athenia, the Courageous was also torpedoed and sunk, this time by U-29, losing 519 of her crew.