Katalog - Katalog 334

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Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, 177-180. Middle Bronze, undated, Jerusalem; 16,68 g.

IMP ANTONINVS ET COMODVS AVGG around the confronted busts of Marcus Aurelius facing l. and Commodus facing r., both laureate, draped and cuirassed//COL AE-L CAP around draped bust of Serapis, crowned with a bushel (modius). Meshorer, Aelia Capitolina, 80 f. no. 57; RPC IV.3 no 6418 (temporary).

Overbeck – Meshorer no. 487.

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Hadrian, 117-138. Middle Bronze, year not legible, but probably year 4/193 = 132/133; 15,55 g.

ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΑΙ - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟC C Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Hadrian r.//ΓΑΖΑ - ΕΙω Io, standing r., and Tyche of Gaza, turreted and holding cornucopia in her left hand, clasping hands. RPC cf. no. 4029.

Overbeck – Meshorer no. 488.

ex Sternberg 12, Zurich 1982, no. 600; ex Sternberg 6, Zurich 1976, no. 616.

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Leopold I., 1657-1705. Silver medal 1686,

unsigned; designed and minted in order to commemorate the capture of Ofen (=Buda) in 1686. A man with turban is filling a smelting furnace, while a Jew, wearing a broad beaked hat, is driving the bellows in order to boost the fire, around this scenery WER DISTILLIRT NUN GELD ZUM FRIED WEIL TÜRCK UND IUD DES KRIEGES MÜD (Who will now produce money of purified precious metal, in order to buy peace, as Turks and Jews are tired of war?)//OFEN / GEHÖRT FÜR / LEOPOLD . / MAHUMETH IST DAS / GLÜCK ABHOLD , / VERLIERET OFEN SAMT / DEM GOLD , / DAFÜR MAN FRIEDEN / KAUFFEN SOLT . / AN . / * 1686 *. (Ofen belongs to Leopold. Fortune was averse to Mohammed, and therefore he loses Ofen (= the Furnace) together with the gold, which should have been used to buy peace) in 11 lines. Edge inscribed with: DURCH DIESEN STREICH . DAS TURCKEN REICH . STEHT AUF DER NEIG (By this surprise coup the Turkish Empire is faced with ruin). 41,91 mm; 29,54 g. Friedenberg p. 18; Kirschner 31; Slg. Montenuovo 981. Cf. M. Bernhart, Die Türken im Wandel des historischen Urteils: Eine medaillengeschichtliche Betrachtung, Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft 8, 1915, 69-80, esp. 76-78.

This medal recalls to a brutal massacre of Jews in the course of the Holy League’s campaign against the Turks in 1686. Ofen/Buda (today a part of the modern Hungarian capital Budapest) had been under Turkish rule since 1541. During the Turkish domination of Ofen a large part of the Christian population had fled into the neighbouring Habsburgian Empire, whereas many Gipsies and Jews emigrated to Ofen so that they became dominant in Turkish Buda. After the Turkish failure in the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683 Emperor Leopold I saw an opportunity to conquer Hungary. Supported by the Pope, King Jan Sobieski of Poland, and the Republic of Venice he started his counter-strike in 1684, but this first siege of Buda failed. Two years later, in 1686, the Holy League conducted a new campaign against the Turks and attacked Ofen again. After two months of besiegement, on the 2nd of September 1686, the League’s soldiers succeeded in entering and plundering the city. They slaughtered not only the Turkish habitants of the city but also many of the Jews living there. About 1000 of them were massacred and their homes looted, hundreds of them sold into slavery. Ofen’s mosques and synagogues were destroyed, and the dead bodies of Jews and Turks were thrown into the Danube. In 1687 the Austrians defeated the Turks in the battle of Mohacs once more. In view of these successes the Hungarians assigned the Hungarian crown to the Habsburgian dynasty. In this respect the medal commemorates a turning point of world history.

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Napoleon I, 1804-1814, 1815. Silver medal 1806,

signed by the medailleur Alexis Joseph Depaulis (1790-1867); commemorating the Grand Sanhedrin. Napoleon’s bust in uniform to the right, above his head laurel wreath, around NAPOLEON EMP. ET ROI, in exergue: DENON D(irexit), DEPAULIS F(ecit)//Bare-footed horned Moses has fallen on his knees before Napoleon and hands over the tablets with the Ten Commandments to Napoleon clad in imperial vestments, in exergue GRAN SANHEDRIN / XXX MAI MDCCCVI. 41,16 mm; 33,53 g. Friedenberg S. 40; Slg. Julius 1573; Zeitz -.

As early as the French Revolution Jews living in France had been given the same rights as other Frenchmen. The 'Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen' guaranteed freedom of religion. Napoleon tried to enforce these principles in the countries which he had conquered. Although he took a critical stance against Jewish moneylenders and took steps to prevent their activities, he made efforts to better the Jews’ situation all over his empire. In France he took a lot of measures to integrate Jewish people in French society in order to eliminate the differences between them and the majority of the population. Many Jews feared the complete loss of identity by total assimilation. However, he invited the French Jews to elect representatives which formed a council named Sanhedrin and which should pursue the interests of the Jewish community before the French Government. The Hebrew word Sanhedrin/Council traces back to the Greek word for council: synhedrion. Jean Bertrand Andrieu (1761-1822) was a major French medalist. Dominique-Vivant Denon (formerly known as De Non, 1747-1825) was the Directeur général du Musée central des arts (since 1804 Musée Napoléon, today’s Louvre) and also the director of the French institute for the minting of medals.

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Maximilian I. (IV.) Joseph, 1799-1806-1825. Silver medal 5584 AM (= 1824 CE),

signed by Joseph Losch, who worked for the Bavarian State Mint from 1803 to 1826; minted to commemorate the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone of Munich’s new synagogue in the Westenrieder-Street. Head to l.//Legend in six lines in Hebrew script. 26,44 mm; 5,32 g. Hauser 766.

Ex Bankhaus Aufhäuser 9, München 1992, no. 1979.

The Hebrew text on the reverse says: 'The cornerstone of the synagogue to be constructed in the capital of Munich was laid by the mercy of the king on the 2nd day of the month Af in the year 5584'. Hauser l. c. describes the new built synagogue as follows: 'The synagogue was built in the style of High Renaissance by Baurat Metivier in the years of 1824-1826. It housed a hall surrounded by a women’s gallery, which was supported by nice columns of red Tegernsee marble. The columns were topped by palm capitals of white marble. The inauguration took place in 1826 in presence of King Ludwig I. and his wife. After the completion of the new synagogue at the Herzog-Max-Straße, inaugurated in 1887, this building was demolished and replaced by a private house.'

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Ludwig I., 1825-1848. Silver medal 1826,

signed by J. W. Löwenbach; on the inauguration of the synagogue at the Westenriederstraße in Munich. View of the synagogue//In 12 lines: ERBAUT / UNTER DER GLORREICH : / REGIERUNG DES HÖCHSTSEL : / KÖNIGS MAX : IOSEPH I . / EINGEWEIHT AM VORABENDE / DES PESACHFESTES 5586 D . I . AM / 21 . APRIL 1826 IN GEGENW : I . I . M . M . / DES KÖNIGS LUDWIG I . / VON BAYERN UND DER / KÖNIGIN THERESE . / GOTT ERHALTE / SIE LANGE ! (Built under the glorious reign of the late king Maximilian Joseph I; inaugurated on the eve of the Passover 5586, i. e. the 21st of April 1826, in presence of king Ludwig I of Bavaria and his wife queen Therese. God save them long!). 39,15 mm; 18,18 g. Hauser vgl. 767 (diameter 33 mm).

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Cast one-sided bronze plaque 1907,

signed by K. GOETZ and C. POELLATH SCHROBENHAUSEN; on the inauguration of the new synagogue of the Jewish Community in Frankfurt. Adorned doorway, in the background view of the synagogue, surrounded by a halo: One German inscription (EINGEWEIHT AM 23. AUGUST 1907 (inaugurated at the 23rd of August 1907)) and three inscriptions in Hebrew ('Thursday, the 19th of Elul of this year'; 'Enlarge the place of thy tent' (Isaiah 54, 2), 'The Community of the Jews'). 61,61 x 49,13 mm; 65,14 g. Slg. Whiting 531; Felder, Karl Goetz, mentioned on p. 30, 50, 74 and 81.

The synagogue at the Friedberger Anlage in Frankfurt offered space for more than 1600 worshippers. It was built after the plans of the renowned Berlin architects Peter Jürgensen and Jürgen Bachmann. Representatives of the Prussian Government, of the City of Frankfurt and of the Jewish communities had taken part in its inauguration in 1907. During the pogroms in November 1938 the synagogue was attacked with incendiary devices in order to destroy it. The building survived these assaults, but the Nazis stated that the building was in danger of collapsing and threatening public security. Therefore, they forced the Jewish Community to demolish it at their own cost. During 2nd World War a high-rise bunker was built in its place. It still exists today, but is now used for permanent exhibition documenting Jewish life in Frankfurt’s Ostend.

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Bronze jeton 1841,

signed J. D.; on the construction of the Hospital of the German-Jewish Community. SALOMON HEINE. MENSCHENLIEBE IST DIE KRONE ALLER TUGENDEN (Salomon Heine. Philanthropy is the crown of all virtues) around the head of him//KRANKENHAUS D. D. ISRAEL. GEMEINDE (Hospital of the German-Jewish Community) around view of the hospital, DER SEL. FRAU BETTY HEINE ZUM ANDENKEN ERBAUT VON IHREM GATTEN HAMB. 1841 (Built by her husband in Hamburg 1841 in commemoration of the late Betty Heine). 23,02 mm; 3,96 g. Gaed. 2071; Slg. Brettauer 2886.

Salomon Heine, 1767-1844, was a well-known Hamburg merchant, banker and patron. He supported not only citizens of Hamburg, but also his nephew, the famous poet Heinrich Heine, by money. He established the Jewish Hospital in Hamburg in remembrance of his wife Elisabeth (called Betty) who had died in 1837.

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Hieronymus Napoleon, 1807-1813. Silver medal 1808,

signed by A. Abramson; commemorating the grant of equal rights to the Jews of Westphalia. VNITAS IN REGNO WESTPHALIAE (Unity in the kingdom of Westphalia), in exergue DECR(etum) D(ie) XXVII IAN(uarii) MDCCCVII (decreed on the 27th of January 1807); the winged genius of Christianity – behind him an altar against which a tablet with the PAX-symbol, being in reality the two first letters of Jesus Christ’s name written in Greek characters, leaned – and the also winged genius of Jewry – behind him an altar, against which a tablet with the Ten Commandments once given to Moses leaned – are embracing each other//DEO ET REGI PATERNO (For God and the king of the fatherland), in exergue ABRAMSON; the veiled personification of Jewish Faith kneels in all humility before an altar with blazing flames, against which the two tablets with the Ten Commands are leaned and above which Jehova’s name written in Jewish characters appears in a gloriole. The broken chain at Jewish Faith’s feet symbolises the consequences of the Jewish emancipation in Westphalia. 42,45 mm; 27,84 g. Friedenberg S. 40 f.; Hoffmann 157; Slg. Julius 1882.

Following the ideas of his brother Napoleon, Hieronymus, king of Wesphalia (1807-1813), issued a decree granting equal rights for the Jews living in his kingdom. Even after Napoleon’s fall and the end of the kingdom of Westphalia, many of these reforms remained in full force and effect. In 1833 the full equality of Jews living in the electorate of Hessen-Kassel was regulated by law. Abraham Abramson (1754-1811) was one of the most important German-Jewish medallists and master of the Prussian mint. He created the designs and engraved the dies for more than 250 medals.

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Venice. Cast bronze medal, undated,

unsigned. Bust of Moses with ram’s horns to the l.//The Hebrew text of Exodus 20,3: „non habebis deos alienos coram me' in four lines. 36,15 mm; 31,28 g. P. Rizzini, Illustrazione del civici musei di Brescia: Medaglie, Brescia 1892, no. 1413; Toderi – Vannel no. 813.

Moses’s depiction with horns (in this case with ram’s horns) traces back to the book Exodus’s Latin translation by the church father Hieronymus. He translated the Hebrew text of Exodus 34, 30 into Latin: 'videntes autem Aaron et filii Israhel cornutam Mosi faciem timuerunt prope accedere.' (Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.) There can be no doubt that the Hebrew text wanted to say that Moses’s face was glorified, when he came down from mount Sinai with the two tablets inscribed with Yahweh’s commandments. To all appearances, Hieronymus thought that in Hebrew 'horned' was a metaphoric expression for a luminous face reflecting the glory of God. It was quite late in West European art – namely in the High Middle Ages – that the visual arts started to represent Moses horned. The most famous representation of ,Moses cornatus‘ is Michelangelo’s statue in St. Peter in Rome. Ram’s horns as Moses’s head ornament – as in the case of this medal – may have been chosen for their resemblance to the shofar which was a well known symbol for Judaism.

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Grünfeld, Alfred. *1852, Ó1924. Musician. One-sided bronze plaque 1902,

signed by J. Tautenhayn jun., in commemoration of his 50th birthday. ALFRED / GRÜNFELD, head to the r. 71,13 x 51,44 mm; 97,92 g. Niggl 772.

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Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. 1729-1781. Poet and Philosopher. Silver medal 1929,

signed by F. W. Hörnlein, in commemoration of his 200th birthday. Bust to l.//Between two crossed laurel twigs in three lines: 1729 / 22. JANUAR / 1929. On the rim hallmark: SÄCHS MÜNZE 999. 35,84 mm; 19,99 g. Arnold/Fischer/Arnold 224.

364 examples of this medallion were minted in silver by the mint of Muldenhütten.

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Mendelssohn, Moses. *1729 Dessau, † 1786 Berlin. German Jewish philosopher. Silver medal, undated, around 1774,

signed by Abraham Abramson. Bust to the left, around MOSES MENDELSSOHN – I. ABRAHAM & F.//Skull with butterfly sitting on its top, above it PHAEDON, beneath it in exergue NATVS / MDCCXXIX. 43,53 mm; 27,45 g. Friedenberg S. 54 f.; Hoffmann 251.

One of the most widely read books of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, was 'Phaedon oder über die Unsterblichkeit der Seele' (Phaedo or On the Immortality of Souls), published in 1767. On this book’s title-engraving, Socrates takes a look at a skull on whose top a butterfly is sitting. This medallion depicts a section of this image. In order to understand it, it is important to know that the Greek word for butterfly 'psyche' can also mean 'soul'. The butterfly becomes a suitable image for the soul’s immortality, if one realises the fantastic change from egg to caterpillar and chrysalis and finally the last change into a richly coloured butterfly.

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Sonnenthal, Adolf. *1834, Ó1909. Actor. Bronze medal 1881,

signed by J. Schwerdtner in commemoration of his 25th stage-anniversary at the Burgtheater in Vienna. ADOLF SONNENTHAL K.K. HOFSCHAUSPIELER UND REGISSEUR, 1856 1. JUNI 1881 (Adolf Sonnenthal, Imperial and Royal court-actor and stage director from 1856 to the 1st of June 1881) around bust to the l., J. SCHWERDTNER below bust//ZUR ERINNERUNG AN DAS 25 JÄHRIGE KÜNSTLER-JUBILÄUM GEWIDMET VON VEREHRERN (In rememberance of the artist’s 25th anniversary dedicated by devotees) around view of the old Burg-Theatre, alongside the old Horse-riding School. 60,42 mm; 84,31 g. Wurzb. 8479.

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Tin medal, undated, the medal must be minted before 1714,

unsigned (in the style of the medallion maker Christoph Wermuth [1661-1739]). On the edge of a water a protestant priest clothed in his vestment holds an opened book in his left hand and pours water over the head of a Jew to be baptized with his right hand. The Jew is tied to a millstone. Behind the Jew an executioner or his assistant is about to push the baptized Jew into the water; around the scornful inscription: SO BLEIBT ER AM BESTÆNDIGSTEN („By this means he will remain the most faithful possible“)//SELTEN / WIRD EIN IUD / EIN CHRIST , / ER HAB DENN WAS / BEGANGEN , / AUCH THUT ERS MEIST / UMBS GELDT , / DASS ER NICHT / HÄNGEN DARFF , / DENN WANN ERS / ANDERS STIEHL , / SO STRAFFT MANN / IHN ZU / SCHARFF ('A Jew will rarely become a Christian, unless he has committed a crime. In most cases also money is involved. His objective is not to be hanged. If he had stolen it under other circumstances [= without having converted], he would have been punished all too severely') in 14 lines, beneath the inscription 3 stars. On the medallion’s rim remains of the inscription: SO WAHR DIE MAUS DIE KATZ NIT FRISST , WIRD DER IUD KEIN WAHRER CHRIST ('As true as the mouse does not devour the cat, the Jew will never become a true Christian'). 43,75 mm; 25,53 g. Coll. Fieweger 76; Friedenberg S. 14; Kirschner 2; Wohlfahrt 55 089.

In history again and again Jews were forced to convert to Christianity, but it also happened that some of them voluntarily became Christians. In either case many Christians mistrusted the converts and suggested other motives than religious ones for their conversion. Christian suspicions against converted Jews are reflected by this medallion. The scene on its obverse traces back to Martin Luther’s advice to a certain Menius who was a preacher at Eisenach: „Si denuo Judaeus baptizandus sibi offeratur, eum se in pontem Albis ducturum, et suspenso de colle lapide in aquis praecipitaturum, ne mutata animi sententia, baptismum convitiis insectur.“ (If once more a Jew offers himself for being baptized, he should be led to a bridge over the river Elbe and with a millstone around his neck pushed into the waters, in order to avoid that he after having changed his mind blasphemes baptism). Cf. O.A. Wolf, Zwei auf Judentaufen bezüigliche Medaillen, Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums 44, 1900, 539-541 who bases himself on J.J. Schudt, Jüdische Merkwürdigkeiten: vorstellend, was sich Denkwürdiges in den neuen Zeiten bey einigen Jahrhunderten mit den in alle 4 Theile der Welt, sonderlich durch Teutschland zerstreuten Juden zugetragen; sammt einer vollständigen Franckfurter Juden-Chronik; mit Kupfern und Figuren, Leipzig 1718, 303. The verdict SO WAHR DIE MAUS DIE KATZ NIT FRISST , WIRD DER IUD KEIN WAHRER CHRIST ('As true as the mouse does not devour the cat, the Jew will never become a true Christian') over converted Jews is medieval and was once inscribed in a wall of Freising cathedral.

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Cast silver medal, undated, around 1700,

unsigned, in the style of the medallion maker Christoph Wermuth. In a heathland scenery a fox is fleeing from a wolf in sheep’s clothing, above the wolf O VVLPES / QVID FVGIS / ME / QVIS SVM / VIDESNE (Fox, why are you fleeing from me? Do you not see, who I am?) in five lines; above the fox: NOVI TE / FVGIO TE / QVIA ES / NEQVAM / IN CVTE (I know you, and I flee from you, as you are a no-good, even in this skin!) in five lines//WER DA / TRAVET EINEM / WOLF AVF GRVNER HEID / EINEN IVDEN / BEY SEINEN EID / EINEN BOESEN PFAFFEN / VND RABULISTEN BEY / IHREN GEWISSEN / DER WIRD VON / ALLEN VIREN / BESCHISSEN (Who trusts a wolf on the green heath, a Jew’s oath, a wicked cleric’s and a hair-splitting quibbler’s conscience, he will be cheated by all four of them) in 11 lines. 42,02 mm; 31,56 g. Friedenberg S. 12 f.; Kirschner 6; Wohlfahrt 55 043.

Ex der Auktion Kricheldorf 29, Stuttgart 1987, no. 1195.

The medal denounces credulity, but also shows antisemitic tendencies. Unfortunately the dictum breathes the spirit of Martin Luther who in his tract ,Von den Juden und iren Lügen‘ serves traditional anti-Jewish sentiments: „Trau keinem Wolf auf wilder Heiden // Auch keinem Juden auf seine Eiden // Glaub keinem Papst auf sein Gewissen // Wirst sonst von allen Drein beschissen. (Do not trust a wolf on wild heathland and a Jew’s oaths. Do not believe in a pope’s conscience, otherwise you will be cheat by all three). Luther’s famous saying was taken up by Elvira Bauer, a nursery school teacher, who had fallen victim to the Nationalsocialistic racist mania; in 1936 she published a children’s book with the title ,Trau keinem Fuchs auf grüner Heid und keinem Jud bei seinem Eid! Ein Bilderbuch für Groß und Klein’; its objective was to implant the Nazi’s hatred of Jews in the German people.

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Bronze medal 1796, unsigned. A token of the Cabbage Society issued on the occasion of the Purimfestival in 1796. Cauliflower, around CABBAGE – SOCIETY//PURIM 1796 around a flower with six petals. Engraved edge: AN ASYLUM FOR THE OPPRESS'D OF ALL NATIONS. 32,18 mm; 14,74 g. Friedenberg S. 82 ff. Very rare. Very fine

The token-shaped medal is published by Dalton/Hamer, The Provincial Token-Coinage of the 18th Century, London 1910 (repr. by Stow, Mass. 1967) as number 227 in the Middlesex section. Friedenberg mentions other examples which were produced in 1780 and 1814. The meaning of the medal is still puzzling, as neither a Cabbage Society nor the reason for the minting of them is known. In connection to another token with the image of George Washington and the US flag beneath the legend LIBERTY AND SECURITY (Dalton/Hamer ibid. 243) which has the same words around the rim, Friedenberg interprets the medals as an expression of secret support for American independence. The suggestion of the Purim festival can also be understood in this context, a festival which also celebrates the freedom of a (Jewish) people.

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Aluminium medal 1923,

signed by F. W. Hörnlein, directed against the usurers during the German inflation period after 1st World War. Obese naked man is sitting on corn sheaf and by this clearly identifiable as a man who tries to exploit the needs of his fellow men//In 7 lines: IN / BÖSEN ZEITEN / IST OHN ZWEIFEL / EIN MENSCH / OFT DES ANDERN / TEUFEL / 1923 (In bad times, there can be no doubt, men can turn out to be other men’s devil). 38,15 mm; 6,72 g. Arnold/Fischer/Arnold 180; Kirschner 30.

24 552 pieces of this aluminium medal were minted. These medals fall back on the motif of the Corn-Jew, which was used for invectives against the Jews as early as the 17th c.

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Bronze jeton, undated (minted in the nineteen-twenties),

unsigned. THE GREAT DRIVE FOR A HOME FOR THE AGED – HELP US BUILD – HOME OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL around a view of the old people’s home in Manhattan – 232 E. 10 ST.// CONTRIBUTION – ONE DOLLAR / HELP US / AND / GOD / WILL / HELP YOU. 33,01 mm; 10,14 g.

Originally the 'Home of the Sons and Daughters of Israel' was a charity organisation of Manhatten, which since its founding in 1909 collected money in order to built an aged people’s home. In 1914 the charity organisation succeeded in purchasing a building where it could establish such a home for aged Jewish people. In the nineteen-twenties the organisation appealed several times for donations by producing medals which were given to the donors. This medal may be one them. For the history of the 'Home of The Sons and Daughters of Israel' cf. Robert D. Leonard Jr.: Home of the Sons and Daughters of Israel: Its History and Contribution Tokens, in: The Shekel 38, Nr. 6, 2005, 14-23.