March 4-7, 2013
Gorny & Mosch
Auction sales 211-213

A fest for the aficionado of medals: auction sale 123 of Gorny & Mosch

A magnificent ensemble of historical medals manufactured by the best die cutters in their day will be offered in auction 213 of Munich auction house Gorny & Mosch, ranging from Hans Reinhart the Elder to Sebastian Dadler, from Johann Hoehn and P. H. Mueller, to state just a few illustrious names here.

Thursday, March 7, is focused on the medals, although several numismatic and phaleristic rarities from Germany, Europe, Russia and overseas will compete for the collectors' attention.

Hardly any other numismatic genre has more to offer and is (yet) as underestimated as the medal. Several important die cutters are present there, from Hans Reinhart the Elder to Sebastian Dadler and Johann Hoehn as well as P. H. Mueller whose great works the collector had bought. The estimates range from 50 euros to 30,000 euros. Hence, there is something here for everyone.

Let's begin with the medals of the 16th century, the Renaissance works of art that depict the leading figures of the Reformation. The medals and a commemorative coin, respectively, display three variants of Frederick the Wise at once (VF-EF; VF; and VF-EF; estimates: 5,000, 7,500 and 4,000 euros, respectively). The catalog puts a special emphasis on the fantastic medals of the Leipzig artist Hans Reinhart the Elder. The aficionados encounter, amongst other pieces, his medal on the Fall of Man and the Salvation (EF, original cast; estimate: 5,000 euros), his elaborate portrait of Charles V (old cast, EF; estimate: 1,000 euros), his extremely rare work about the apocalypse (EF, original cast; estimate: 4,000 euros) and the famous Trinity medal as his most groundbreaking and at the same time most mature work (EF; original cast; estimate: 30,000 euros).

Sebastian Dadler most certainly was the most prominent die cutter of the 17th century. The collector was able to acquire highlights of his work in finest conditions, like a splendid specimen of the medal 1634 on the burial of Gustavus II Adolphus in Stockholm (FDC; estimate: 5,000 euros) or a medal from 1649 on Emperor Ferdinand III and the Nuremberg day of execution (EF-FDC; estimate: 15,000 euros).

The medals spanning the period of time from the 18th to the 20th century likewise contain some rarity, like an extremely rare gold medal of 15 ducats from 1814 on the triumphal march of the allied forces against Napoleon and the Treaty of Paris (EF; estimate: 22,000 euros).

Lot 4003. Historical medals / Saxony. FREDERICK III the Wise, 1486-1525. Guldengroschen (1513), Nuremberg, on the dignity of the general stadtholder. Merseburger Coll. 419. Extremely rare. Very fine. Estimate: 7,500 euros.

Lot 4011. Historical medals. TRINITY MEDALLION of Hans Reinhart the Elder, 1544. Habich 1962var. From Eugen Felix Coll., auction A. Hess Nachf., Frankfurt 1895, lot 232. Estimate: 30,000 euros.

Lot 4038. Historical medals / Saxe-Eisenach. ALBRECHT, Duke 1641-1644. As administrator of the Teutonic Order bailiwick Thuringia. Octagonal golden gnadenpfennig 1627. Tentzel pl. 37.1. From WAG (09/2006), 2459. Of greatest scarcity. Gorgeous original cast. Extremely fine. Estimate: 17,500 euros.

Lot 4053. Historical medals / HRE. FERDINAND III, 1637-1657. Medal 1649 of S. Dadler on the Nuremberg day of execution. Montenuovo Coll. 821. Very rare. Extremely fine to proof-like. Estimate: 15,000 euros.

Lot 4295. Historical medals / Brandenburg-Prussia. Gold medal of 15 ducats 1814 of Ascher Wappenstein on the triumphal march of the allied forces against Napoleon and the Treaty of Paris. From auction sale UBS 53, lot 831. Montenuovo Col. cf. 2391 (silver). Very rare. Extremely fine. Estimate: 22,000 euros.

The catalog can be viewed on the internet at www.gmcoinart.de and ordered at Gorny & Mosch, Giessener Muenzhandlung, Maximiliansplatz 20, D-80333 Munich, phone +49 / (0)89 / 24 22 643-0, fax +49 / (0)89 / 22 85 513.