NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: MAY 25, 2025

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V28 2025 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 28, Number 21, 2025, Article 16

Jeremy Bostwick with Numismagram forwarded 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. -Editor

103190 | PHILIPPINES & UNITED STATES. Louisiana Purchase/St. Louis International Exposition bronze award Medal. Issued 1904. Presented at the expo for the "bronze" award at the Filipino Exhibit (63mm, 12h). Round shape. By Adolph Alexander Weinman at the Philadelphia mint. VNIVERSAL EXPOSITION SAINT LOVIS VNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Columbia standing slightly right, wearing Phrygian cap and outstretching American flag over Native American maiden standing to right, removing flag with intricate bee design (representing industriousness); rising sun in background // Eagle, with head left and wings spread, standing facing on oak and laurel branches; below, rectangular cartouche decorated with scallop shell and inscribed • BRONZE • MEDAL • / • PHILIPPINE • EXHIBIT • / • LOVISIANA • PVRCHASE • / • EXPOSITION • in four lines; two inward-facing dolphins below. Hendershott 30-41; Honeycutt 70c. NGC AU Details—Environmental Damage. Red-brown surfaces, with some light handling and mild mottling of the color from the noted environmental damage. This aspect, however, does not interfere with its overall appearance, charm, and rarity. A very rare subset of the more typically encountered general award specifically designed for the Filipino exhibit and with a mintage of just 975 pieces. Fairly comparable to the McFadden specimen, an NGC AU-55, though clearly with some environmental issues of its own, and for which its current owner wants at least $1,800 (via HA) $1,495.

Designed by famed German-born U.S. coinage engraver Adolph Alexander Weinman, this series of award medals displays the elegant artistry that would make appearances the following decade on the 'Mercury' dime and the 'Walking Liberty' half dollar. Issued in various shapes, the entire series (bronze, silver, gold, commemorative, and grand) were nominally named, as all of the award medals were struck in a new bronze alloy (initially referred to as 'government bronze'), and meant to convey the level of recognition for the recipient. The expo itself was held in St. Louis, Missouri, and had, as its backdrop, the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase to commemorate—a factor which prominently influenced many design aspects of the award medals.

102809 | SWEDEN. Edvard Swartz silver Medal. Issued 1936. Commemorating the life of the stage actor (45mm, 43.68 g, 12h). By Erik Lindberg at the Stockholm mint. EDVARD SWARTZ NAT MDCCCXXVI OB MDCCCXCVII, bust right, wearing frock coat // TRAGŒDUS VERBA POETARUM SUMMA ARTE ILLUSTRAVIT (as a tragic actor, he interpreted with consummate mastery the works of the great poets), Swartz, as a younger man (standing left, holding skull), in the role of Hamlet in the "alas, poor Yorick" scene. Edge: SILVER 1936. Ehrensvärd 359. Mintage: 125. Choice Mint State. Alluring gunmetal gray toning, with some enchanting iridescence and a great matte nature. $195.

One of the star actors in Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theater in the mid-19th century, Swartz was seen as a tremendous talent in tragic and heroic roles, portraying numerous popular characters throughout his career. At one point, his physical appearance was so striking that the papers referred to a "Swartzjuka," or "Swartz illness," on account of the clamor that he created among the audience.

102826 | VATICAN CITY. Pope Pius XII silver Medal. Issued 1946/Year VIII. Commemorating the Papal Consistory (44mm, 36.82 g, 12h). By Aurelio Mistruzzi at the Rome mint. PIVS • XII • PONT • MAX • ANNO • VIII, bust right, wearing stole and zucchetto // + E • QVINQVE • TERRARVM • ORBIS • PARTIBVS • XXXII • CARDINALIBVS • CREATIS, view of the central nave of St. Peter's Basilica during the Consistory. Edge: Plain. Bartolotti E946; Rinaldi 140; Cusumano-Modesti 56. Gem Mint State. Extremely lustrous and mirrored, with intense colorful toning as well, along with great depth on the reverse that creates an intense 3D effect. $245.

Consistories in Catholicism represent times at which a pope can create new cardinals, adding them to the College of Cardinals. Due to death or retirement, the number of cardinals decreases, creating the need for periodic additions during such consistories. Pius XII was elected to the papacy in 1939 during a conclave consisting of 62 cardinals. The first of two consistories under his reign did not occur until 1946, as the conflicts of World War II created a necessary hiatus. His only other consistory was in 1953, 5-1/2 years before his death in 1958.

103129 | JAPAN & UNITED STATES. "Newborn" oval cast bronze Medal. Issued circa 2005 (80mm x 88mm, 224.25 g). By Kazuhiro Adachi for the First International Medallic Sculpture Competition for Emerging Artists (where it won the Cast Bronze Award). Head of infant facing slightly left // Blank except for "Newborn" and K. ADACHI. Edge: Some filing marks as made, otherwise plain. As Made. Brassy-yellow surfaces. A unique example of an award-winning medal. Ex David Baruch Simpson Collection (acquired from Medialia's Rack and Hamper Gallery). $265.

Adachi exhibited this unique offering, along with two others, as part of a group exhibition entitled "The Portrait" and displayed at Medialia's Rack and Hamper Gallery from 31 January–14 February 2007 in New York City. The gallery's description of the exhibition reads "...Portraits are an ever present subject matter for the visual artist. One's own face, or the face of another, possesses an unlimited source of interpretation. It is an avenue into the character and personality of the individual. In this exhibition, the portrait is not confined to the classical sense of the word. The artists in this exhibition convey emotions and concepts through this medium, enabling them to recreate their subject."