This years Indiana State show did not disappoint me. Over 3 days I was able to make several nice acquisitions. German State-Frankfurt 1772 Thaler German States-Mansfeld-Hinterrort Thaler I was able to pull the photo and description off of the dealers website prior to them marking it sold. I bought it for the reverse. Beautiful medal. AR Medal, , 28.29g (39mm, 12h). Profile head left. CARL MARIA VON WEBER / Orpheus on dolphin with lyre. Two horns and a lyre in the exergue References: Kress H 18a. Niggl 2294. Merseburger Collection 4579 Grade: Beautifully toned with iridescence. EF. This lovely metal is a dedication to Carl Maria von Weber, a composer who was prolific in many areas of music but excelled particularly in the area of opera. This metal was produced one year before his death in 1826 and in his hometown (at the time of his death) of Dresden. Carl Maria von Weber took a position at the illustrious Dresden Opera where he attempted to uplift the appeal of German opera which was a step-child to the ever popular Italian opera. Unfortunately the 39 year old composer was suffering from Tuberculosis and died while in London making performance rounds. It took 18 years to return his body to Dresden to be buried next to his 19 year old son Alexander who had tragically died seven weeks prior to his own death. The reverse shows Orpheus, the Thracian bard and legendary musician, with his lyre atop of his totem, the dolphin. The reverse is reminiscent of the coinage of Calabria with Taras atop a dolphin. This last piece was something I spotted towards the end of the show. One of those things where it fell like it spoke to me. Instantly fell in love with it. Photo and description for the 2020 Stacks Bowers sale that it had sold at prior. Not sure how this dealer ended up with it. Great Britain. 1827 West Essex Archers Prize Medal. Silver. Extremely Fine. 51.5 mm. 19.4 grams. Obv: Silver disc in a looped rope border inscribed WEST ESSEX ARCHERS / 5th Oct. 1827. Rev: Finely engraved depiction of archery competition implements -- target, posthorn, arrows, bow. Ex Stacks Bowers August 2020 Auction - Session 4 - Internet Only - U.S Coins Part 1 - Lots 4001-4757 Lot 4095 I came home with a bunch of other minor items including some new civil war tokens for my wife.
Nice Frankfurt piece, I have a little city view kreuzer I adore. Mansfeld is a state I don't have a coin from yet, but I am slowly plodding along in that endeavor. Very cool medals as well. Looks like a successful trip!
Those Frankfurt city views over the Main river are really pretty, and yours is a nice example. Congrats! (That particular motif can be found on a variety of other issues from Frankfurt, for example, the French Occupation Contribution Dukat of 1796, Doppeltaler of the 1840's and the tiny 6 and 1 kreuzer issues of the 1830's and 1850'. Amazing how much detail the engravers packed into such a small planchet).
