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Gold MedalsCoinage through the ages has served the function both of currency (a store and measurement of value) and of medallic proclamation (dissemination of official information). Is a Ptolemaic octodrachm or a multiple aurei of Constantine a coin or a medallion? The distinction would have been irrelevant to any society for whom money or currency was defined by the weight and purity of precious metal. However, in our present era of unchecked government issue of paper and electronic money, there is a vast confusion as to the nature of currency. Currency is now a "promise" of value - rather than a store of value. Thus Currency is now a form of debt. This has led to the confused distinction that modern collectors hold between medallic issues and currency. Until our current era, medals have always been worth exactly their weight in precious metal - just like coins. However, because of their rarity, beauty, and historical importance, medals rather than currency comprised the greater part of most advanced collections. Royal Proclamation medals were usually crafted by celebrated artists of the era. They were often sculpted in high relief, in tiny mintages, to mark interesting and important historical events. A coin might be considered rare if only a few thousand were minted. A medal is rare is only a few hundred were minted. POR (price on request) The medals listed below are all of such rarity in high condition they are virtually irreplacable. this makes it difficult to assign a reasonable monetary value. .......................ROYAL GOLD PAGE 2 |
From the time of the Stuart kings through to Victoria, gold coronation medals were presented to the royal family and friends invited to the coronation ceremony. Silver medals were tossed to the members of parliament, judges and other dignitaries who lined the front rows of the coronation procession, as well as being handed out to esteemed servants of the Royal Household. Bronze medals were tossed to the rest of the rabble. Edward VII ended the practice of tossing medals as he thought it undignified to see judges and member of parliament diving on the ground to retrieve the precious metal. James I struck only a silver coronation medal. Charles I was the first to have a very small number of coronation medals struck in gold. The following masterpiece of the engraver's art was so pleasing to Charles I that he kept his personal specimen in his pocket at all times, so that he could admire it whenever he pleased. It was minted by master engraver Nicolas Briot who was mintmaster at Paris under Louis XIII. He later fled to England where he introduced the coin press to Charles I. |
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Great Britain, Charles I, (1625-1649) |
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Great Britain, William and Mary (1688-94), Coronation, 1689, official gold medal, 34mm (17.7gm) unsigned (by John Roettier), conjoined busts right, rev. Jove thunders against Phaeton (James II) who is falling from his chariot,. (E.312; MI.652, 25; Wollaston viii, ill.9) from a mintage of 515. Extremely rare and certainly one of the finest known.. Provenance: Spink
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GREAT BRITAIN, Queen Anne (1702-1714) Official gold Coronation Medal, 1702. 36mm. (28 gm) By John Croker. Obv. Draped bust l. with headband. Rv. The Queen helmeted as Pallas hurls lightning at dissident factions potrayed as the Hydra, VICEM GERIT. ILLA. TONANTIS. Wollaston 10, Eimer 153.5.
Very Rare. From a mintage of 850. Slightly irregular edges as struck, otherwise |
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HANOVER. George I. 1714-1727. AV Official Gold Coronation Medal (22.20 g,). John Croker, engraver. Dated 20 October 1714. bust right; J. C. on truncation of arm / George enthroned right, holding scepter and globus, being crowned by Britannia standing left, holding shield and spear. Hawkins pl. CXXXIX, 9; Eimer 470. Prov: CNG. Very Rare. From a mintage of 330. a few light brushmarks in fields, otherwise UNC..............................POR |
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Great Britain,George II (1727-60) |
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Great Britain, George III (1760-1820) (and the last King of America 1760-1776)
NGC MS62 ..................POR |
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Great Britain, George III, (1760-1820) |
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Great Britain, George IV, (1820-1830) Proof official gold coronation medal, 1821, (36 g) by B. Pistrucci, laur. bust l., rev. king enthroned, crowned by Victory before him stand Britannia, Hibernia and Scotia (Eimer 1146)
From a mintage of 1040 - though extremely rare in proof, presumably a piece presented to the King, Queen and a few other VIPS.
Provenance: Kroisos collection.
(absurdly undergraded) NGC PROOF62.....................POR |
| Though war enriched Louis XIV, the War of Spanish Succession which lasted from 1700-1714 eventually squandered France's gold supply. Louis XV inherited a badly depleted kingdom. With the help of an English banker named John Law he established the first central bank of France in 1718 which proceded to issue paper currency backed by paper shares in the Mississppi Company. The whole scheme led to a fantastic credit bubble that burst in 1720, effectively bankrupting the French government. France never regained her economic prosperity, and Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette inherited a bankrupt kingdom that quickly devolved into bloody revolution thus ending the era of monarchy. |
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FRANCE, Louis XIV, 1643-1715. Médaille d'or 1654. (4.2 g).; 16.00 mm. Cérémonie du lendemain du Sacre à Reims, le 7 juin 1654. Attribué à Jean Warrin. L · XIIII · D. G · F · ET · N · R · S · D · VII · IVN · 1654. Buste du Roi , I · V · F · // LVMEN DE NVMINE - DE LVMINE NVMEN (La lumière venue du ciel fait du roi un être divin). Le roi agenouillé, CH · IN · / COR · D · / P · SP · / SANC · (La charité répandue dans son coeur par le Saint-Esprit). De chaque côté, la Foi et l'Espérance tiennent une couronne élevée au-dessus du roi; duquel descend le Saint-Esprit avec la Sainte-Ampoule. Tranche lisse.
Extremely rare. About uncirculated....... POR |
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FRANCE, LOUIS XV (1715-1774) |
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France, Premier Empire, Napoleon Bonaparte, 1804-1814. Gold Medal 1805. (16,35 g) Monument to the fallen General Desaix. Obv: Napoleon with garland, Rv. bas relief monument to Desaix, exhibited in Paris. Inscription below: "the cornerstone laid by Napoleon" Signed by the artists, Denon and Droz. . Bramsen 426. extremely rare in gold. a few surface marks, otherwise, AU....................................POR |
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FRANCE, Louis XVIII, première restauration (1814-1815), AV médaille, (62,54g.) 41 mm. 1814, signed (both sides) by Andrieu. Creation of the French Constitutional Charter: 4 juin 1814. Louis head rt. R: Louis XVIII upon his throne, presenting the Constitutional Charter to a peer and a deputy of France. Ref.: Collignon, 37 (AE). Extremely rare in gold, superbly crafted in high relief and of great historical import. Near UNC................................POR |
| The Holy Roman Empire is founded by Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Lombards in 800. It is ruled by the Ottos through the turn of the millenium when Christianity spread throughout Europe with a vengeance. Rudolph I is the first Habsburg to ascend the throne in 1283. The Habsburg grip on the Empire was solidified by Frederick III in 1440, and extended through Francis II in 1806. During this period the empire included: Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, Burgundy, and at times, Spain and Switzerland. |
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HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, Two uniface trial strike medals in gold 38 mm and (3.2 g each) for the Coronation Medal of Matthias of the House of Habsburg, and his wife Archduchess Anna of Austria as Emperor and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire in Franfort. Dated: 24 Jun, 1612 Slg. Mont. -. JuF 320, Förschner 34,1 |
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HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, Medal of 6 Ducats 1714, (20.86g,) 32 mm, by P.H. Muller, Issued in Baden to commemorate the Peace of Rastatt and the treaty of Baden that ended the War of Spanish Succession with Louis XIV of France, and Queen Anne of England. Charles VI facing right/Olive tree with flags and arms, Berstett 533, Forster 787 (in silver) Toned Prooflike AU...............POR |
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, 3 Dukat medal (10.43g.), Dated 1736. Vienna. Engraved by M. Donner. Conjoined busts/ Hymen with cross and two burning hearts on alter. Graded: NGC AU 55......POR |
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HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, Dukat, (3.36g) issued in Frankfort, 1745, to commemorate the coronation ceremony in Frankfort October 4th, 1745. Signed by the celebrated medallic artist Johann Leonhard Oexlein. Rare. NGC AU 58...................$3200 |
| Holy Roman Emperors Joseph II (1765-1790) and Leopold II (1790-1792), sons of Maria Theresa, brothers of Marie Antoinette, though overshadowed by their famous mother and sister, were the original "Enlightened Despots" - remarkably enlightened rulers who presaged the modern era. Joseph aboslished serfdom and the death penalty and issued the patent of tolerance, guaranteeing (limited) freedom of religion. He also refromed the tax code and made elementary education compulsory, while changing the language of education from Latin to German. Leopold outlawed torture and instituted vast health care reforms through regulations covering universal vaccinations and mandatory care for the ill and the mentally ill. He also approved and collaborated on the development of a political constitution, said to have anticipated by many years the promulgation of the French constitution and which presented some similarities with the Virginia Bill of Rights of 1778. |
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HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, |
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HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, LEOPOLD II, Emperor (1790-1792) Official Gold Inauguration medal (1791) 37mm. (22.33gm) by Th. Van Berckel. Obv: Bust right. Rev: The emperor receiving homage from Austrian Netherlands, lion at his feet, . Slg. Sigismund von Österreich 1496 var Kenis, 121; de Witte, V B. 128. Provenance J Elsen. Excessively rare: from a mintage of 128 NEAR UNC.....................POR |
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for more info, comments, purchase requests contact: Jeff Kahn at Jkahn21@nyc.rr.com
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