JANUARY 2019 MEDAL SELECTIONS FROM NUMISMAGRAM

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V22 2019 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 22, Number 1, January 6, 2019, Article 24

Jeremy Bostwick from Numismagram passed along some highlights from his most recent offering of medallic art. Listed below is another example of the interesting Nitroglycerin piece which elicited some reader input last summer. In addition to these medals, you will find a few other incredibly artistic nude medals, some early 20th century French award medals, a couple interesting WWI-related pieces, a Centennial 'wood,' a couple other aviation types featuring a Zeppelin, and a pair of Brookgreen Gardens medals. To see all of the new items, visit numismagram.com/inventory . -Editor

UNITED STATES & BRAZIL. President-elect Epitácio M. Pessoa bronze Medal. Issued 1919. Commemorating his Visit to the United States (77mm, 207.50 g, 12h). By P. Manship. Concordia flying right, holding olive branches and with eponymous banner trailing; view of the western hemisphere, prominently displaying the United States and Brazil, in background / Scroll inscribed TO / COMMEMORATE / THE VISIT OF THE / PRESIDENT ELECT / OF BRAZIL / EPITACIO / PESSOA / TO THE / UNITED STATES / OF AMERICA / MCMXIX in eleven lines; garlanded cornuacopiae above; allegories of trade standing facing, holding purse and caduceus (on the left) and scroll and scales (on the right); below, steam ship sailing right between two dolphins. Edge: Plain. Cf. Smithsonian no. 1965.16.84 (for an example presented to the museum by Paul Manship himself). Choice Extremely Fine. Yellow-brown surfaces, with high relief on the obverse; some minor spotting and roughness. A very rare and interesting piece of a desirable medalist. Far superior to the Smithsonian piece. $595.

Epitácio Pessoa served as the 11th President of Brazil from 1919-1922, coming to the presidency in an unusual manner. Former president Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves had won the 1918 election with an astounding 99.1% of the vote, but was stricken with the Spanish flu during 1918's global pandemic of influenza, was unable to be sworn in, and ultimately died in January 1919. His vice-president-elect, Delfim Moreira da Costa Ribeiro was sworn in, though health issues surrounded him as well. Having successfully negotiated for Brazil's interests at the Treaty of Versailles, Pessoa defeated Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira in a snap election to be Brazil's next president-with Delfim Moreira being relegated to vice-president-without Pessoa having even left France.

Unusual obverse. I like it. -Editor

SWEDEN. Carl August Edlund & Sigurd Nauckhoff bronze Medal. Issued 1939. Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget (Nitroglycerin Corporation) (56mm, 68.97 g, 11h). By E. Lindberg. CARL AUGUST EDLUND • SIGURD NAUCKHOFF / NITROGLYCERIN AKTIEBOLAGET 1864-1939, busts of Edlund and Nauckhoff left / VINCIT VIS MEA SAXUM (my strength overpowers the stone), nude male left, pushing apart the rocky earth. Edge: BRONS 1939. Choice Mint State. Pleasing brown surfaces, with a light matte finish. Includes original roundelle. $165.

Known for inventing dynamite and bequeathing his fortune in order to fund what would become the Nobel Prizes, Alfred Nobel was a prolific inventor who held over 350 patents. In 1864, he founded the Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget (Nitroglycerin Corporation), the world's first manufacturer of nitroglycerin. Over the years, the corporation was guided under the leadership of various managing directors, such as Sigurd Nauckhoff, serving from 1921-1944, and Carl August Edlund, succeeding him from 1944-1965. Following Edlund's tenure, the corporation's name was changed to Nitro Nobel, and was changed again in 1999 to Dyno Nobel Sweden.

Great medal. -Editor

UNITED STATES & SPAIN. Christopher Columbus bronze Medal. Issued 1892. The 400th Anniversary of the Discovery of the New World/Quartercentenary (70mm, 179.65 g, 12h). By B. Maura y Montaner in Madrid. "Cristobal Colón descubrió el Nuevo Mundo el doce de Octubre de mil cuatrocientos noventa y dos, reinando en Castilla y Aragon Doña Isabel y Don Fernando," Columbus standing left in Santa Maria, head right, pointing out the sight of land; crew mates to right; in background, Nina and Pinta upon the sea / Columbus preparing to kneel right before Ferdinand and Isabella at their double throne; in background to left, Native Americans bearing gifts; "Cuarto centenario" in exergue. Edge: Plain, though a few light marks and a very minor rim nick are mentioned merely for completeness. Eglit 111; Rulau B2. Choice Mint State. Glossy chocolate brown surfaces, with a great deal of underlying luster. Very rare and attractive. $465.

In order to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Columbian discovery of the New World, the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando established a competition for a work of medallic art. Bartolome Maura y Montaner produced one of the finest designs within the Quartercentenary series, Spanish or otherwise, though his initial work was not selected due an anachronism. The kneeling crew mate on the obverse of the above design had originally been a friar praying on both elbows and knees. As the historical record pointed to no ecclesiastic members aboard the voyages of Columbus, Maura y Montaner yielded and replaced the individual, leaving the remainder of the obverse and reverse virtually unchanged.

Very attractive piece. Busy design, but quite nicely done. It works well. -Editor

UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Calvin Coolidge & Hugo Eckener bronze Medal. Issued 1924. Commemorating the Landing of the LZ 126 (USS Los Angeles) in Lakehurst, New Jersey (64mm, 98.46 g, 12h). By T. Isnenghi. DR H ECKENER PRESID C COOLIDGE / LAKEHURST 15 X 1924, half length busts of Eckener and Coolidge facing one another, clasping hands; between them, facing figure of Peace, holding palm frond / Airship flying left over the Atlantic Ocean; Statue of Liberty at a distance to left; to right, steam ship sailing left. Edge: Plain. Hans Kaiser Coll. 455.1, Button -; Westfälische Auktionsgesellschaft 58, lot 2718. Choice Mint State. Pleasing light brown surfaces, minor fingerprinting on the reverse. Extremely rare, with just one other specimen listed on CoinArchives (an inferior piece, which realized a hammer of €425 in 2011). $695.

Following the death of the Graf von Zeppelin in 1917, Dr. Hugo Eckener became the head of the company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin and oversaw post-war fundraising to expand upon its production, even serving as commander for the LZ 126 and LZ 127. Built as a part of the German reparations for their participation in WWI, the LZ 126, designated by the US Navy as the USS Los Angeles, was completed in August 1924 and flown to the United States later that October, landing at the US Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The next day, Eckener, along with his crew, was received by President Calvin Coolidge at the White House.

Nice medal. I especially like the impression of great distance on the reverse. -Editor