NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: JUNE 21, 2026

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V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 25, 2026, Article 14

Numismagram's Jeremy Bostwick sent along these six 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

103364 | SWEDEN. Alfred Nobel silver Award Medal. Issued 1998 for participation on the nominating committee for the prize in literature (27mm, 11.78 g, 12h). By Erik Lindberg (after an obverse in 1926) at the Eskilstuna mint.

ALFRED NOBEL, bust left in frock coat // SVENSKA • AKADEMIEN, SNILLE / OCH / SMAK (genius and taste, –motto of the Swedish Academy) in three lines within garlanded laurel wreath; six hallmarks below. Edge: Plain.

Cf. Ehrensvärd 268 (for obverse type). PCGS SP-64. Lightly toned, with an alluring matte nature. An attractive example of this more difficult nominating committee medal.

In the world of medallic art, France may come to mind for its association with some of the most skilled and elegant craftsmen and their work, especially during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Any survey of medals and coins from this period will show the beauty that the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements provided to the numismatic scene. However, production of artistic medals was not limited to just France. Although Sweden is not as often represented in collections and literature devoted to numismatic art, it is not due to a lack of exceptional material produced by incredible sculptor-engravers.

One such artist was Johan Lindberg, most commonly known by his middle name, Erik. Born in Stockholm on the final day of 1873, Erik grew up with an artistic presence, as his father, Johan Adolph, was a famous sculptor and engraver of medals, even serving as a professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. Focused intently upon his craft, Erik split most of the 1890s training at his father's studio and studying at the Academy. Following his graduation from the Academy, he earned a scholarship for study in Paris where he was greatly influenced by the styles of such luminaries as Louis-Oscar Roty and Jules-Clément Chaplain. It was during this period that he was tasked with the creation of the medals to be awarded for the newly established Nobel Prizes, one of the first of his numismatic contributions. While the reverse designs of these majestic medals vary based upon the subject matter celebrated, the obverses all display the same classical rendition of Alfred Nobel, the creator of the trust used to finance the prizes. Outside of the Peace Prize, presented instead in Oslo, and the Economics Prize, created much later by the Sveriges Riksbank, Lindberg's renditions continue to be used for the prize medals as well as the medals presented to the nominating committees.

Though the actual prize medals are almost never encountered in the market, the nominating medals do appear and have become quite popular, as they are generally as close as one can realistically get to an actual prize medal.

103566 | SWEDEN. Alfred Nobel silver Award Medal. Issued 1982 for participation on the nominating committee for the prize in medicine or physiology (26mm, 12h). By Erik Lindberg (in 1901) at the Eskilstuna mint.

Bust left in frock coat; ALFR• / NOBEL – NAT• / MDCCC / XXXIII / OB• / MDCCC / XCVI across field // INVENTAS • VITAM • IUVAT • EXCOLUISSE • PER • ARTES (and they who bettered life on earth by their newly found mastery), basin and serpent-entwined staff of Aesculapius; wreath behind.

Ehrensvärd 22; Lagerqvist 3A. PCGS SP-61. Pleasingly toned, with deep amber and burgundy hues, and with a great gunmetal gray backdrop. The more popular of these two design types.

103656 | SWEDEN. Alfred Nobel gilt silver Award Medal. Issued 1991 for participation on the nominating committee for the prize in physics or chemistry (26mm, 12h). By Erik Lindberg (in 1901) at the Eskilstuna mint.

Bust left in frock coat; ALFR• / NOBEL – NAT• / MDCCC / XXXIII / OB• / MDCCC / XCVI across field // REG • ACAD • SCIENT • SVEC, crowned and winged coat-of-arms of Sweden; radiant North Star above.

Ehrensvärd 21; Lagerqvist 3B. PCGS SP-64. Exceptional matte surfaces, with some subtle golden notes from the gilding and alluring iridescence spread throughout.

103671 | SWEDEN. Alfred Nobel bronze Medal. Issued 1983 for the 150th anniversary of the birth of the inventor and philanthropist (26mm, 12h). By Erik Lindberg (for obverse, in 1901) at the Eskilstuna mint.

Bust left in frock coat; ALFR• / NOBEL – NAT• / MDCCC / XXXIII / OB• / MDCCC / XCVI across field // ALFRED / NOBEL / 1833-1983 in three lines within garlanded oak wreath. Edge: MV BRONS 1983.

Choice Mint State. Warm brown surfaces. A rare and attractive commemorative medal that parallels the nominating committee medals, channeling the same obverse as is used for those and some of the prize medals.

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. Shortly thereafter, he patented dynamite, with the explosive's first large scale usage being in the construction of the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland, where it was vital in the boring of the earth.

103543 | GREAT BRITAIN. Westminster Abbey bronze Medal. Issued 1855. Most Remarkable Edifices of Europe series (59mm, 84.81 g, 12h). By Jacques Wiener in Brussels & Elkington and Co., and struck at the Geerts mint in Ixelles.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY, exterior view of the abbey building from the west-northwest // Interior view of the Henry VII chapel from just to the right of the center aisle centerline looking toward the altar; in three lines in exergue, ST. PETER'S CHURCH FOUNDED ABOUT 612 / REBUILT AND ERECTED AN ABBEY / 958 AND 1049-1066; in four lines to left, THE PRESENT CHURCH CONSTRUCTED / 1220-1285 / RESTORED END OF THE / XVII CENTURY; in four lines to right, WESTMINSTER HALL BUILT 1397 / THE CHAPEL OF HENRY VII / COMMENCED 1503 / RESTORED 1809. Edge: Plain.

Ross M189; van Hoydonck 142; Reinecke 35; Taylor 8b; BHM 2592; Eimer 1506; Silich IV, 1621 (this medal). Choice Mint State. Charming brown surfaces, with some alluring brilliance among the fields on the obverse. Undoubtedly one of the most attractive and intricate—if not the most intricate—medals in this ambitious series.

Ex David Nicholas Silich Collection, Part IV (Noonans 353, 11 March 2026), lot 1621.

From what is today eastern Netherlands and western Germany, the Wieners were a Jewish family of exceptional medalists, especially known for numerous numismatic works throughout the Kingdom of Belgium. Eldest brother Jacob (Jacques), along with younger brothers Leopold and Charles, created some of the finest works of medallic art of the 19th century, and all are particularly noted for their work in the highly detailed and intricate work of architectural renderings.

103567 | RUSSIA, SWEDEN & FINLAND. Peace of Nystadt (Uusikaupunki) bronze Medal. Issued circa late 18th century. Commemorating the end of the Great Northern War (60mm, 12h). Unsigned, but by Samuel Judin.

??????? ???? ???????? (bound by the bond of peace...), Noah's Ark sailing left across Gulf of Finland; in background, city views of St. Petersburg (to left) and Stockholm (to right), joined together under a rainbow; above, dove flies left, with branch in beak; in three lines in exergue, ????????? / ?? ?????? ???????? / ????? 1721 (...after the flood that was the Northern War) // Legend in 13 lines: ?•?•?•? / ???????? / ????? • I • / IMEHEM? • I?????? • ??????H?M? / ???????? • / ?????????? • ?????????? • / ? ???? / ?????????????????? • ?????T??? / ?????? • ?????????? • / ??? • ???????? • ????????? / ??????? / ?????????? • ??????? / ??? • (to the sovereign Peter I—the great Russian emperor, father of fifty-year triumphs, and pacifier of the north—this medal is most zealously presented). Diakov 57.2. NGC MS-63 Brown. Highly impressive, with pleasing red-brown surfaces and some appealing lustrous brilliance in the fields. Compare to an inferior example [NGC MS-62 Brown and with noted pencil marks on the reverse] which realized a hammer of £400 ($640 after the buyer's fee) in Noonans 319, lot 1569 (6 March 2025) and a similar specimen that realized a hammer of €900 ($1,382 after the buyer's fee) in Westfälische Auktionsgesellschaft 66, lot 1426 (16 September 2013).

Following studies in Europe, Peter the Great returned to his native Russia with a desire to modernize his nation and turn her into a regional power upon the seas. Previously, Sweden had established herself as a dominant empire within the Baltic, but Peter's successful campaign of various allies ultimately saw a Russian victory in the Great Northern War, albeit after some 20 years. With victory secured through the Treaty of Nystadt, Russia added to her territorial holdings around the Baltic, further establishing her as a serious broker in European affairs going forward. This medal, designed by Samuel Judin sometime in the latter half of the 18th century, revives an earlier type designed at the time of the Treaty. It alludes to the war as the biblical flood, with Noah's Ark sailing under a rainbow, along with a dove overhead, indicative that the longstanding stryfe was finally over.