WILHELM FRIEDRICH "FRANZ" EUE (1888-1937)

While looking for articles on the WPA (Works Progress Administration) I came upon a photo and article in which it was mentioned.

The photo was particularly interesting because the caption says she had been the model for Miss Liberty, "on the quarter in your pocket", which she was not. In the accompanying article her father, Wilhelm Friedrich Eue, referred to as Franz Eue, was mentioned and because his was not a familiar name, I did some research.

German-born medalist Franz Eue, pronounced "yoo-ee", was born on December 5, 1888, in Rathenow, Germany near Berlin. In the early 1910s, he worked as an engraver in Strasbourg, where he married Berta Matilde Roller. The marriage producing two daughters, Gerda born in 1914, and Helga, the young woman in the photo, in 1919. It is unknown whether Berta died or the marriage ended in divorce.

King Ludwig III of Bavaria

Frederick II

Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin
Bombing of London's Tower Bridge

During the war years, 1914-1918, he created more than 30 medals, including an extensive series of patriotic pieces honoring high-ranking German military and naval officers. His medals were crafted from materials such as silver, bronze, and cast iron, and produced in various sizes. Some were designed with an attached loop, allowing them to be worn on a lapel—a common way to demonstrate patriotism and solidarity before and during the First World War. From a modern perspective, many of Eue's medals can also be classified as propaganda media from the First World War.

When the war ended, his primary income source ended such that in 1925 he began placing this advertisement appeared in the Deutsches Graveur-Journal und Stempel-Journal, the German Engraver's Journal and Stamp Journal.

Apparently, the ad did not achieve the desired result and on November 17, 1926, Franz, his new wife, and seven-year-old Helga, emigrated to New York where his work soon transitioned from documenting military figures of the First World War. From 1929 on he worked as a freelancer for various companies, including Whitehead & Hoag and the Medallic Art Company. During this period, Eue produced over 70 works that include play money for Cracker Jack, Charms Candy, and Little Duchess Laundry. He also modeled reliefs and emblems featuring notable figures depicting U.S. Presidents Medals, film icons, companies, cities, chambers of commerce, the New York Athletic Club even and Saint Christopher medals.

Eue Presidential Medals

obverses

reverses

Franz Eue died unexpectedly of a heart attack on June 1, 1937, at the age of 48. An obituary appeared in a German trade journal, but I have been unsuccessful finding a stateside one. Upon his death in 1937, he left behind a prominent legacy of medallic artwork spanning both Germany and the United States.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
POPSICLE TOKENS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n11a15.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web