My usual bent is Art Deco or older, but once in awhile something else can strike one's fancy. I also am a theme collector of medal...mythologic beasties, sighthounds, and maternal/baby themes are my favorites. The theme overrides the design aesthetic at times. I found a really cool piece very early in my collecting days by Kauko Rasanen (1926-2015). He was a Finnish sculptor and somewhat prolific producer of medals. Much more modern and scultptural (?sp) in style. He was born in a region of Finland that was ultimately ceded to Russia in 1944. I found this medal on eBay recently and bought it for no particular reason. Kakisalmi was also ceded and I'm sure there is some interesting history behind this particular medal, other than 50 years later. 80 mm and 364 grams. Had to use my cell phone camera as it far exceeded my 'real' camera's set up. From the same seller I also picked up this one. Again, no particular reason other than it 'spoke' to me. Rasanen was know for making many multipart medals. This one has three sections which nest together. I'm calling them an obverse section/piece, the reverse section/piece, plus a third that nests inside. The third one is (for lack of a more PC or better way to describe it) 'male' on both sides. The inner aspect of both the obverse and reverse pieces are 'female', so the inner one can rest either direction. I have no idea if this is clear at all. Normal Obverse/Reverse shot (again with the camera, but this is because the medal is so thick my camera set up is useless as I don't photo stack). And an attempt to show the medal. This one could use the video treatment but I haven't gone there yet. A little busy, but hopefully (?) helpful: I'll try and upload my other examples. So can you tell he was a sculptor?
Here is a link to an old post where I showed the Mom/Baby medal. I think I can do better photos, but it's pretty cool. This one comes in bronze too...haven't gotten that one yet as it's a bit redundant. Edit, hang on, fixing link The "Coin Uno" or "Follow the Leader" game (World Coins edition)
I have 1 medal. FRANCE-1927-ELECTRICITY- Bonze art deco Medal by P.M. DAMMANN I like it so much. The radiating hair photo rules.
I was just calling it Leonardo DaVinci. I found a Finnish or German book for sale on Amazon.de that I'm going to see if I can order. It looks like it good be a good resource. Thank goodness for google translate .
His medals seem to go from around $100 (other than some smaller pieces) to $250 ish with some outliers. The one I posted has an example for $200. I found a lower price, but it was eBay. https://www.ebay.com/sch/11116/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=rasanen
before I die I want this cathedral medal by Jacques Wiener... I could stare at the 2nd photo all day for depth perception and amazing beauty.
That is just one third of the total medal. I'll try and take another shot for perspective. It won't be fancy...
@spirityoda Literally on a piece of mail on the kitchen counter, cell phone and light from the window. This might show better how the medal fits together.
Guess he made the medal to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the city. According to the Finnish Wikipedia it was founded in 1295 - give or take a year ... Käkisalmi's original name was Korela; the Swedish name, as from the 17th century, was Kexholm, and today's Russian name is Priozersk. Both the Finnish Käkisalmi and the Swedish Kexholm mean something like Cuckoo's Island. So what bird could be depicted on that medal? Christian