NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: JULY 26, 2026

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V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 30, 2026, Article 16

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

103659 | ITALY. Pietro Aretino of Venice bronze Medal. Issued 1537 (37mm, 26.08 g, 12h). By Leone Leoni at the Venice mint.

DIVVS • P • ARRETINVS • FLAGELLVM • PRINCIPVM • (the divine Pietro Aretino, the Scourge of Princes), draped bust left // VERITAS / ODIVM / PARIT (truth engenders hate [—adapted from Andria by Terentius]) in three lines within wreath; 1537 above, LEO (artist's signature) below wreath ties. Edge: A few scattered marks and typical striking irregularities, otherwise plain.

Cf. Scher Coll. 164 (for a cast from circa 1550); Armand I 162.3; Pollard [Bargello] 716; Voltolina 294; Serenissima Coll. 99; Forrer III, p. 402. Choice Extremely Fine. Exceptional chocolate brown surfaces, with some hints of brilliance remaining among the fields and darker aspects highlighting the devices. A wondrous example that is the version which features the artist's signature upon the reverse, and a superior specimen compared to the slightly later cast example in the Scher collection, which is the format in which this type is generally encountered.

Ex: Triton XIV (3 January 2011), lot 1427 (where it sold for $3,000 hammer, plus a buyer's fee of an additional 15/18%).

Ex: Numismatica Genevensis SA 4 (11 December 2006), lot 766 (where it sold for ChF 2,875 after the buyer's fee [$2,389 at the time]).

A splendid struck original from a popular High Renaissance medallist, Leone Leoni, this mid-16th century specimen features an imposing bust of Pietro Aretino, about whom Scher writes that "...Aretino's sharp tongue and his parodies of eminent figures earned him the title on the obverse, which is first recorded in the third edition of Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto. Leoni and Aretino were friends; early on, Aretino even served to advance Leone's career. Valerio published a list of the books authored by Aretino, where he used the present medal as a frontispiece."

103631 | GERMANY. Pfaffendorf Railway Bridge bronze Medal. Issued 1864 for the inauguration of the bridge across the Rhine between Koblenz and the suburbs of Pfaffendorf and Ehrenbreitstein (71mm, 12h). By Jacques & Leopold Wiener.

* WILHELM KOENIG VON PREUSSEN * AUGUSTA KOENIGEN V. PREUSSEN, jugate bare heads left of Wilhelm and Augusta // EROEFFNUNG DER BAHN COBLENZ–OBERLAHNSTEIN / 9 MAI 1864, view of the bridge from the southwest, with Fort Asterstein upon the hill at a distance; COBLENZER / RHEINBRÜCKE in two lines in exergue.

Ross M268; van Hoydonck 208; Reinecke 151; Bouhy 163; Döry/Kubinszky 142; Menadier 461. PCGS SP-64. Rich red-brown surfaces, with great brilliance in the fields. As such, a premium quality example, and likely one of the finest of the type that one will encounter. The finer of just two observed in the PCGS census.

Originally constructed in the early 1860s, with its inauguration celebrated in 1864 (the cause for this medal), the Pfaffendorf Railway Bridge was destroyed during World War II, with its replacement (and current incarnation) opening in 1953.

103622 | ITALY. Vittorio Emanuele III gilt bronze Medal. Issued 1911 for the International Exposition of Public Health, held in Roma from 1911-1912 (60mm, 88.08 g, 12h).

VITTORIO EMANUELE III RE D'ITALIA, bare head left // Seminude female figure standing facing, holding basin; to right, angelic figure crouching left, holding tablet inscribed HUMA / NI / TAS in three lines and cradling draped figure to lower left; ESPOSIZIONE / INTERNAZIONALE / D'IGIENE SOCIALE / ROMA / 1911-12 in five lines to right. Edge: A few light marks, otherwise plain.

lamoneta W-ME63X3/1-1. Choice Mint State. Highly brilliant and flashy, with alluring brassy-yellow hues throughout. Rare when encountered this attractive and with the original box of issue.

103417 | UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Woodrow Wilson cast bronze Medal. Issued 1915. American Neutrality (57mm, 93.30 g, 12h). By Karl Goetz at the München mint.

• WOODROW • WILSON • / LIBERTY • NEVTRALITY • HVMANITY, bust of U.S. president Woodrow Wilson facing slightly right, wearing laurel wreath and stole decorated with imperial eagle of Germany and double eagle of Austria-Hungary // AMERIKA'S NEVTRALES • HANDELN (America's "neutral" action), Uncle Sam seated left on cannon balls, presenting battleship and holding bag of money [$]100[,]000; cannon in background. Edge: Some light filing marks as made, otherwise plain.

Kienast 149; The Art of Devastation, p. 143, fig. 6 & p. 274, no. 69; Böttcher Coll. 5428. Choice Mint State. Tan-brown surfaces.

Following the outbreak of the European conflict that would become the world's first war, the United States immediately wanted to refrain from entering into the fray, with President Woodrow Wilson declaring that America would have a policy of strict and impartial neutrality. What was expressed publicly by the government, however, didn't match private sentiments, with numerous American institutions lending financial support to the Allies, giving the United States a stake in the outcome. After the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, sentiments shifted even further, with increased support of not only continuing financial aid, but also outright entry into the growing conflict. This medal pokes fun at Wilson's neutrality as seen from the German point of view, with Uncle Sam handing over money and munitions to Germany's enemies.