A seller in Austria is offering the medal depicted below. It appears to be part of a series on German Gods and Heroes issued in the 1980s. Does anyone here have any more info on this? Thanx!
That piece is part of a series of (15 or so) medals sold by MDM in the mid-1980s. There was a silver and bronze version, it seems. Here is an image of the whole series in bronze; don't know whether it is visible for guests: http://www.numismatikforum.de/download.php?id=16709 The eagle on the other side is something that pretty much every German coin collector knows: It is the "Adlerfibel", an East Gothic fibula or brooch from the 5th century which was depicted on the very first commem of the Federal Republic. http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/artikel/612694&template=bild_popup&_bild=3 The brooch was found in San Marino in the 19th century, and can be viewed at the Germanic Museum in Nürnberg. Cannot tell anything about the possible value of the medal. But since it's silver, it would at least be worth the metal content. Christian
Thanx! What is the full name of that minter, MDM? Seems like many of the themes are taken from Wagner's music:
Right, the medals may well have been inspired by the Ring of the Nibelung and other Wagner works. Those sagas, stories and characters have sure been around long before, but he certainly made them popular. Wolfram von Eschenbach wrote "Parzival" (see the spelling on the medal you showed) in the 12-13c, Wagner wrote "Parsifal" in the 19c, and his music also made people aware of Wolfram's works again. MDM is short for Münzhandelsgesellschaft Deutsche Münze. It is not a mint but the world's biggest coin dealer/distributor according to MDM's website http://www.mdm.de/shop/action/magazine/2000/Ueber-uns.html (in German). And part of their business is designing and selling medals ... Christian
Thanx for all your help on this. I've got quite a thing for the legend of the Fisher King, which is the story of Perceval's quest for the Grail. And being a coin collector, I've long looked for a coin with Perceval depicted on it. There are numerous coins with King Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, etc., but not much in the way of Perceval. On top of that the reverse is an homage to an actual coin, which is a plus in my book. I'll be adding it to my want list.
