At the end of the Thirty Years War which the Swiss notoriously had not joined in, this splendid medal was made by Friedrich Fecher by order of the government of Basel.

Friedrich Fecher was a native of Strasbourg, where a guild's list records his name besides the year 1612 and his sign: two F closely put together in a Renaissance shield. Precisely the same sign appears on our medal: below the cartouche with the city name we can see a small shield with the artist's initials. Fecher came to Basel in 1640. Apparently without being member of any guild in Basel he produced and sold silver and gold implements. Hence the gold and silver guild's smiths complained about his black labor and achieved finally that he was prohibited to do any more gold and silver work. However, he was able to continue his career as a medal die cutter. To that permission we owe this gorgeous Renaissance medal showing prophet Daniel in the lion's den.

To read the complete article, see:Prophet Daniel in the lion's den in Basel(www.coinsweekly.com/en/Prophet-Daniel-in-the-lions-den-in-Basel/
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