I love...Big Copper

I picked up this one the other day - I understand it is Swiss, dated 1835 and celebrates the early preachers of the Protestant religion. Measures about 61mm diameter.

 

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Right, from Switzerland - in fact from the south-western end. Both the CoA and the "Post Tenebras Lux" motto refer to Geneva . Here is your medal in a French museum; hope the (long) link will now work ...

Christian

 

Thanks for the information. I find it admirable for its quality and style, but it is not really for me, so I will probably sell it on.

 

Nice medal--this is a "Four Reformers" medal minted by Bovy to commemorate the 3rd Jubilee (300th anniversary) of the Protestant Reformation in Geneva. My understanding is that these medals were distributed at festival events. The four figures on the obverse were all Genevan preachers, with the one at the top being John Calvin (of "Calvinism" and the Institutes of the Christian Religion). The two figures on the reverse represent Faith and Reason, both paying homage to an open Bible.

 

A personal favorite:


Devil's Tower National Monument Medal
Bronze, 44mm, 50.94gm
Obverse: Prairie dog standing - PRAIRIE DOG
Reverse: Devil's Tower - THE FIRST NATIONAL MONUMENT / ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 24, 1906 / DEVILS TOWER

I bought this medal from the park office at Devils Tower National Monument in June 1974 while driving from Maryland to California.

 

Here is another Reformation medal from Geneva, 1735.

The obverse motto, Post Tenebras Lux, ("After darkness, light") was the city motto of Geneva and was appropriated by the Protestant reformers to describe their movement. The obverse has a nice harbor view. The reverse shows a seated figure (angel?) holding an open book with the Gospel on it, above the figure of Geneva, holding outstretched arms and freed from shackles and yoke. The reverse motto, Veritas Liberavit Vos, translates as "The truth shall set you free."

By J.A. Dassier.

 

great thread, I definitely wanna add some large copper in my collection!

 

Among the largest and heaviest Conder tokens (37mm, 29.4gms)
is Warwickshire 41 featuring Dr. Philemon Holland and the interior of the Free School in Coventry.

 

A Conder penny token made for collectors, 35mm.

 

A recent acquisition. Not sure if it is authentic. It is huge.

 

I don't know how I missed this thread until now. I love big copper coins and medals. My current favorite is a Goetz medal.

This medal depicts "The Bismarck Mausoleum (Bismarck Grabhaus)", 356.00g., 105mm, by Karl Goetz, 1919.

Obverse: Bismarck in the heavens, defiantly clenching his fists with clouds swirling around him.
Legend: Was ich mit Hulfe des deutschen Volkes schuf in grosser Zeit - das hat der Wahn eines einzelnen zerstort • Das deutsche Volk hat sich durtch Unterzeichnung des Friedens von Versailles selbst aus der Reihe der Grossmächte gestrichen • War es fruher gehasst.so wird es jetzt mit Recht verachtet • Es muss sich sogarselbst verachten bis diese Schmach mit dem Blute unserer Feinde abgewaschen wird?" (What I created with the help of the German people over a long period of time - which has been destroyed by the delusion of a single individual. The German people have struck themselves from the list of great powers by subscribing to the Peace of Versailles. It (Germany) was formerly hated, it is now justifiably despised. It must, therefore, despise itself so much until this disgrace will be cleansed with the blood of our enemies).

Reverse: Bismarck's burial place in the Saxon Forest.
Legend: "Deutschlands Ehre, Grosse und Gluck begraben im Sachsenwalde" (Germany's Honor, Greatness and Good Fortune lie buried in the Saxon Forest).
Dated: April 1, 1899, (Kienast 230)

Technically it is bronze.

 

My guess for LordM's most valuable coin, of the above, would be the Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood coin. Why ? The Revolutionary year in Europe, including France, 1848 !!!

 

This is my biggest.

 

1797 GB 2 pence "cartwheel" and 1780 Russia 5 kopek. Both big heavy hunks of copper or bronze.

 

A beautiful Swiss medallion, of ?Calvinist Christianity. If it were mine, PaddyB, I wouldn't pass it on, I like a mix of different cultures, religions etc. And there is much to learn from the ?Latin wording, the illustrations, the year it was minted, and so on and so forth. To me, you have a real jewel there ! - But I am also impressed by the other coins/medallions displayed here.

 

For instance, the Bismarck medallion, I also find fascinating. Bismarck, an obvious very angry dictator, felt strongly about his nationalist concerns. The medallion was struck in 1919, the year after WWI. He is bitter about having been side-lined, and what he, allegedly, had created "has been destroyed by the delusion of a single individual". There was no love lost between him and Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had booted out Bismarck. And neither of them had been angelic !

 

I understand what you are saying @Bert Gedin but my collecting focus is British coinage. I don't really have the funds to do this but I have built up a really nice collection by trading up consistently. Part of this approach is one has to be ruthless in selling on those things that don't fit one's aims, otherwise one quickly ends up with a household full of pretty coins and no money in the bank.
Now all I have is a household full of pretty coins and no money in the bank.

 

You and I both, Paddy. Not sure about the pretty part, but they're all interesting nevertheless.

Bruce

 

Alright, I accept your situations, PaddyB and BRandM. I'm fortunate, being retired, but having enough cash to get by, maybe for another few years. I've only been a collector for no more than about a year, but I've never had to sell even one single coin ! I'd rather swap or give some away.

 

Here is a nice big copper of John Calvin, 1835. It is by the same medalist as PaddyB's medal in post #81 (Antoine Bovy) and minted for the same occasion (3rd Jubilee of the Protestant Reformation in Geneva).



The thing is, this one puts the big in "big copper."


If the raw numbers don't give you the visceral sense of this medal's size, here is a visual aid:


In 1864, Antoine's son, Hughes, minted an homage to his father's famous medal.


There is a story out there that, sometime in the 1970s (I think) a Frenchman got his hands of the original dies (for the big one) and made a series of restrikes. The important part of the story is that the Frenchman was not a medalist but a chocolatier, and his medium was most definitely not bronze. How about that for the ultimate chocolate coin? That bit absolutely makes me laugh way more than it should.