I took advantage of the 10% eBay coupon last week, and picked up this medal from Atlas. It's my first numismatic purchase for quite a long while, and makes item #269 in my horse collection of numismatica. Best, Brandon FRANCE. 1820 AE Medal. PCGS SP65. By Barre. 50.6mm. (Bramsen 1831; Slg. Julius 3685) Obverse: Winged Victory in quadriga over globe depicting Europe and Egypt. Reverse: Legend in wreath of laurel and oak branches. / LES SOUSCRIPTEURS ASSOCIÉS POUR TRANSMETTRE A LA POSTÉRITÉ LES VICTOIRES ET CONQUÊTES DES FRANCAIS DE 1795 A 1815. ÉDITEUR C. L. F. PANCKOUCKE 1820. Struck for the subscribers to a work by C. L. F. Panckoucke, on the victories and conquests of Napoleon. Charles-Louis-Fleury Panckoucke, born on 26 Dec 1780 in Paris and died on 11 Jul 1844 in Meudon, was a French writer, printer, bookseller, and publisher. His most famous published work as editor was that for which this medal was created, published in Paris in 1820. Ex E. J. Haeberlin collection. Ernst Justus Haeberlin (born 19 Jun 1847 in Frankfurt, Germany, died 5 Dec 1925 ) was a lawyer and commercial councilor in Frankfurt am Main. However, Haeberlin became known primarily as a numismatist. In 1906 he was a co-founder of the Frankfurt Numismatic Society. His coin collection was dispersed after his death, with the Aes-Grave portion and other items entering the coin cabinet of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin .
I really, and I mean really, love the world map design and the amount of detail for such a relatively early piece. One thing I am confused on, and this has nothing to do with the medal itself, is why the SP designation applies to medals at all
PCGS likes to use the "SP" (specimen/special) strike designation on medals of this era. I don't agree with the designation, but it doesn't really affect my ability to enjoy the medal. I think they likely designate them "SP" because the medal almost assuredly received multiple blows from the die to strike up the high relief details. That's my best guess. Another possibility is that they just don't know what they're doing -- which is also a distinct possibility.
Brandon, you never cease to amaze me in your selection of medals. French medals will always be among my favorites when it comes to foreign medals. You can count me among those who believe that PCGS doesn't know what they are doing. Chris
Poking fun at how they depicted horses in a gallop, that's all. As for the medal that's my kind of medal all day long (...hopping rabbits with long tails notwithstanding).
IIRC it wasn't until the late 1800s that photography was able to show what the horse's gaits really looked like, and that when the artistic depictions began to reflect the true gallop rather than the rabbit/quadriga type style. Funny, because my greyhound will run with the 'double suspension' and will have a moment with all four feet off the ground twice--once collected underneath (which horses do--a single 'suspension' event) PLUS with the front forward/rear back looking more like the old artist depictions. Gorgeous medal!
Really cool medal. I love the modern update of the classic Roman motif. Here's the exact same design, 2000 years older:
