NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: MAY 11, 2025

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V28 2025 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 28, Number 19, 2025, Article 21

Numismagram's Jeremy Bostwick sent along these four tokens and 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. -Editor

103102 | FRANCE. Indre-et-Loire. Contract Lawyers of Chinon octagonal silver Jeton. Issued circa mid-late 19th century (32mm x 32mm, 12h). By Armand Auguste Caqué at the Paris mint. LEGES ET MORES, female personification of Justice seated left on throne, holding scales and scepter // NOTAIRES / DE / L'ARRONDISSEMENT / DE / CHINON / INDRE ET LOIRE in six lines within circular oak wreath. Edge: «bee» ARGENT. Lerouge 92. PCGS MS-65. Exceptionally brilliant and radiant, with tremendous rainbow iridescence across both sides that creates phenomenal eye appeal. The finest of just four observed in the PCGS census. $395.

Among the numerous jetons issued predominantly during the 18th and 19th centuries in France, certain professions tend to stand out. These jetons, dissimilar to their counterparts from prior centuries, which may have had some numismatic function as well as reckoning use, had far less utilitarian appeal. Instead, as James McClellan notes in his work, "Old Regime France and its Jetons: Pointillist History and Numismatics", "...the historical and numismatic interest in jetons stems more from what else they became, particularly though the end of the eighteenth century under the Bourbon monarchs, as perks of office for office holders in the burgeoning nation state of France, New Year's Day presents exchanged among certain segments of society, and lagniappe handed out for attendance at meetings in town halls, regional estates, and learned societies. Jetons figured in the rites and rituals of the guilds and faculties; they were swag for general meetings of the clergy, and they served as calling cards for noble families. Decoding hidden messages became a parlor game for cognoscenti, and as "petit monuments" some jetons are miniature works of high art produced by the world's most talented artists/engravers at the world's preeminent mint."

Here, the role of the notaire is mentioned, specifically for Chinon. While sometimes being translated as the English cognate "notary," the role of the notaire in France was, and still is, much more involved. Essentially serving as a contract lawyer, the notaire deals in all facets of contracts in French life, most notably with wills, estates, and the sale of property. Given the omnipresent nature of such dealings in day-to-day life, it's not surprising how rampant the issuance of jetons for notaires was

103099 | GERMANY. Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin cast iron Medal. Issued 1913 for his 75th birthday (65mm, 112.56 g, 12h). By Karl Goetz in München. GRAF FERDINAND VON ZEPPELIN, bust facing slightly right // Airship flying right over open field, with rising sun in background; below, nude youth reclining right, inscribing field stone ÆT • 75 8 • JULI • 1913 in two lines. Edge: Plain. Kienast 51; cf. Hans Kaiser 392/392.1 (bronze/silver); Button –. Choice Mint State. Deep charcoal-olivine surfaces, with a delightful matte and slightly glossy nature. A rare and impressive type. $695.

Zeppelin was a German general and aircraft manufacturer, who later founded the airship company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. During World War I, just a few years after the issuance of this medal, many of his airships were utilized in scouting missions and bombing campaigns, most notably in Britain where their bombings killed over 500 citizens.

103175 | ITALY. Vatican City. Pope Pius XII silver Medal. Issued 1939/Year I. Commemorating his election to the papacy (44mm, 35.90 g, 12h). By Aurelio Mistruzzi. PIVS • XII • PONTIFEX • MAXIMVS • A • I, bust left, wearing stole, pallium, and zucchetto // CHRISTIANO • POPVLO • RECTOR • ET • PATER • DATVS • VI • NON • MART • A • MCMXXXIX, garnished papal coat-of-arms; above, tiara above crossed keys. Edge: Plain. Bartolotti E939; Rinaldi 133. Choice Mint State. Exceedingly brilliant and prooflike, with deeply burnished iridescence around the devices. $295.

The papal conclave of 1939 was the shortest conclave in the 20th century, lasting two days, with the election of Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) coming on his 63rd birthday and on the third ballot. Being elected to the papacy just six months before the outbreak of World War II, Pius XII spent a large portion of his early reign dealing with the global conflict, garnering some allegations of silence with respect to Germany's treatment of the Jews. The continued emergence of communism served as a backdrop of his reign as well, with a decree being issued against it. In it, he declared that Catholics who subscribed to such political beliefs would be excommunicated from the fold as apostates.

103098 | FINLAND. Revolutionary bronze Medal. Issued 1967. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Finnish Independence from Russia (69mm, 330.3 g 12h). By Kauko Räsänen and struck by Kultateollisuus in Turku. Raised fist // VAPAA ISÄNMAA – KUNNALLINEN KANSANVALTA / EIT FRITT FOSTERLAND – KOMMUNAL DEMOKRATI (a free fatherland, a communal democracy), rocks washed away by water and hollows created from glaciers, both representing the slow but powerful movement of the progress of the state. Edge: KULTATEOLLISUUS. Hackl & Klose 19. Essentially as Made. Brown-bronze surfaces, with some deeper color in the recesses. A popular type that perfectly captures the spirit of protest and resistance—a sentiment sorely needed in our current chaotic times. $225.

During its pre-national history, Finland was variously dominated by Sweden and then Russia, with stronger influences by Russia occurring in the early 20th century. This Russification caused pushback within Finland, with Russia's internal turmoil (in the form of the Bolshevik Revolution) providing Finland with the opportunity to declare her freedom at the end of 1917.