Catalog

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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.

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Silvered bronze medal, undated (1934),

produced by L. Chr. Lauer, Nuremberg. EIN NAZI FÄHRT NACH PALÄSTINA (a Nazi travels to Palestine) around Star of David// in three lines UND ERZÄHLT / DAVON IM / ANGRIFF (and speaks of it in the 'Angriff' [Attack]), above swastika. 35,42 mm; 15,88 g. Kirschner 48.

In April 1933 the journalist and SS-member Leopold von Mildenstein and Kurt Tuchler, a Zionist living in Berlin, together with their wives went on a journey to Palestine. Tuchler wanted to show the Nazis that the so-called solution of the Jewish question should be the German Jews’ emigration to Palestine. In Palestine von Mildenstein met Ben Gurion and was full of admiration for the Jewish activities there. Back in Germany von Mildenstein wrote some articles in the Nazi journal 'Angriff' in order to convince the Germans of his emigration idea, but he failed. Tragically, von Mildenstein recruted Adolf Eichmann for the government department which had to deal with the 'solution of the Jewish question'. Von Mildenstein himself had to leave this department after a dispute with Reinhard Heydrich, one of the organisers of the Shoah. This rare medal commemorates von Mildenberg’s action little known today.

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Bronze medal, 1966,

signed by P. Vincze, commemorating Edmond and James de Rothschild. Two medallions with their busts facing each other, EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD FATHER OF THE YISHUV AND HIS SON / JAMES WHO GAVE / THE KNESSET / ITS HOME, the same text also in Hebrew. P VINCZE //View of the Knesset, beneath it three scenes which symbolise agriculture, education and technical producition. Signature of P. VINCZE in Latin and Hebrew characters. Edge lettering in Latin and Hebrew STATE OF ISRAEL AVG 1966, Menorah. 59,00 mm; 76,92 g.

Baron Edmond de Rothschild, 1845-1934, was a member of the French Rothschild family. He was a very active philanthropist and patron who particularly supported the Jews in Palestine by purchasing vast areas of land and bestowing them upon Jewish settlers. Also his son James and his daughter-in-law promoted the Zionist movement. James de Rothschild granted large sums for the construction of the Knesset, i.e. the house of Parliament in Jerusalem.

This lot has been withdrawn.

This lot has been withdrawn.

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This lot has been withdrawn.

This lot has been withdrawn.

This lot has been withdrawn.