NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: NOVEMBER 24, 2024

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V27 2024 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 27, Number 47, November 24, 2024, Article 15

Numismagram's Jeremy Bostwick sent along these four medals from his upload of new medallic art to his site For all of the new items, please visit https://www.numismagram.com/inventory. -Editor

102930 | AUSTRIA. Sigmund Freud bronze Medal. Issued 1906 for the 50th birthday of the founder of psychoanalysis (59mm, 104.38 g, 12h). By Carl Maria Schwerdtner, Jr. at the Vienna mint. SIEGMVND FREVD WIEN MCMVI, bust right // The Riddle of the Sphinx: nude Oedipus standing left, resting head in hand and holding walking stick; to left, forepart of Sphinx right; to right, ‘OS TA KLEINP' / AINII MAT ‘HI?EI / KAI KPATISTOS ‘HN ANHP (what goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?). Edge: Plain. Wurzbach 2797; Storer 1127; Optica et Visio in Nummis IV.261 var. (silver). Choice Mint State. Olive-brown surfaces, with a charming matte aspect; a few scattered spots are noted for completeness. Compare to a similar example that realized a total of $450 in Classical Numismatic Group E-535, lot 748. $295.

The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud was born in Freiberg in 1856, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During his extensive and exceptionally influential career, he developed therapeutic techniques, discovered the idea of transference, and established his well-known model of the id, ego, and super-ego. Likely equally well-known is his redefinition of sexuality, including the infantile form, which led to his concept of the Oedipus complex. Appropriately, that served as the inspiration for the reverse of this medal.

102941 | UNITED STATES & ITALY. Carnegie Hero Fund (Italy) bronze award Medal. Issued 1913. Presented by the Italian chapter (59mm, 84.88 g, 12h). By Marcelle Renée Lancelot-Croce at the Italian Royal mint in Rome. Bust of Andrew Carnegie facing slightly right in frock coat; around, six vignettes with various acts of heroism; in two lines in exergue, FONDAZIONE / CARNEGIE // "VEDI QUANTA VIRTÙ L'HA FATTO DEGNO / DI REVERENZA..." (see just how much virtue made him worthy of reverence, —adapted from Dante's Paradise, Book 6), female figure standing facing, head lowered left, holding laurel branches and embracing shrouded women who holds an infant close by; fallen body on stretcher behind to right. Edge: Plain. Choice Mint State. Deep glossy brown surfaces, with a charming matte nature. $435.

The Scottish-American steel magnate and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, created the Carnegie Hero Fund in 1904 to honor and recognize citizens who performed acts of heroism and bravery in the United States. A few years later, he created a similar fund for other countries in Europe to serve a similar purpose. This piece, designed by the female artist Marcelle Renée Lancelot-Croce, displays a charming Neoclassical-inspired reverse and an obverse that has a nod to Art Nouveau with the use of floral adornments separating the vignettes.

102970 | GERMANY & FRANCE. Satirical bronze Medal. Issued circa 1925. On the French occupation of the Ruhr valley (50mm, 51.64 g, 12h). 'RUHRKRANK' (dysentery), man (with the features of French president Raymond Poincaré and emblematic of the French occupiers) dressed in nightgown, standing left, profusely sweating, and holding hands to his stomach in great discomfort; to left, chamber pot with roll of toilet paper in the form of 1000 Franc notes; other torn notes scattered upon the floor // In five lines, WER / ANDER'N / EINE GRUBE GRABT, / FÄLLT SELBST / HINEIN (He who digs a pit for others will fall into it himself, adapted from various similar passages in the Bible). Edge: Plain. Choice Mint State. Light brassy-brown surfaces. Very rare and amusing, especially given the play on words involving the Ruhr. $295.

Emanating from a series of medals that take issue with the French occupation of parts of Germany in the years following World War I, this particular medal appears to point to the idea that France would soon be on the receiving end of the acts alleged to be occurring under her watch. The reverse legend succinctly conveys this, and the events from less than two decades later would prove it true. On the obverse, this satire is taken a step further through a play on words, showing France sick with dysentery. Rurhkrank in German is dysentery, sharing the same word as for the Ruhr Valley or region—one of the main areas of France's occupation efforts.

102978 | UNITED STATES. Society of Medalists bronze Medal. Issued 1987. Cat and Mouse (69x54mm, 199.76 g, 12h). By Robert Weinman for the Medallic Art Company. Large piece of Swiss cheese, behind which a cat lurks left, head poked around to right; a mouse hides within the lower right hole of the cheese // The same scene, but represented from the back, showing the full body of the cat. Edge: SOM—115 1987 ROBERT WEINMAN LIMITED EDITION 2500 MACO BRZ. Alexander SOM-115.1; FIDEM '87 1478. Essentially as Made. Some minor discoloration on the obverse. An ever-popular and fairly rare issue from the waning years of the series; though having an authorized mintage of 2,500 pieces, far fewer were actually produced, with a reported mintage of just 750 examples–many of which can exhibit surface issues and spotting. $645.

A rather whimsical work of art that blends the line between medal and sculpture, this free-standing design is a departure from the more "traditional" round medal, but the end product is exceptional. Robert Weinman, a medalist who had previously designed the 1964 entrant (Socrates) into the series, presented a stark contrast here. Born into an artistic family, Weinman, who passed away in 2003, was the son of famed German-born U.S. coinage engraver Adolph Alexander Weinman, designer of the 'Mercury' dime and 'Walking Liberty' half dollar, as well as the official award medals for the 1904 St. Louis/Louisiana Purchase International Exhibition.