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<p>[QUOTE="Cachecoins, post: 4591713, member: 111237"]This coin was engraved in 1864 by the sculptor <b>Leopold Wiener</b>. Wiener was from a Jewish family of engravers born on July 02, 1823. His older brother, Jacques Wiener, was a famous medalist who had apprenticed under their uncle L. Baruch, himself a fine engraver. Jacques is known for producing a series of medals of notable buildings and churches in Belgium and engraved the first official Belgian stamps. His younger brother Charles was also an engraver, serving at the Hague as engraver to King William III of Holland, later moving to London where he was assistant engraver at the Royal Mint. He then moved to Lisbon where he served as chief engraver of Portuguese coinage until moving back to Brussels to work with his brother Jacques where the two produced a large number of commemorative medals.</p><p><br /></p><p>Leopold studied under his older brother Jacques and then became a pupil of David d'Angers in Paris. In 1847 he returned to Belgium and started engraving a series of large historical medals which commemorated contemporary events and became very popular. Also in 1847 Wiener won a public competition looking for designs to replace the image of Leopold I on coinage. This would be his first work done for a national currency. He was appointed chief engraver at the Royal Mint of Belgium in 1864 after the death of Joseph-Pierre (J.P.) Braemt who created the first Belgian coins under the reign of Leopold I. He was responsible for all the currency of Leopold II (about 150 pieces) while he continued striking medals. He also enjoyed a considerable reputation as a sculptor and some of his monumental works still adorn public places in Belgium. Wiener was Jewish and one of his medals of note was an 1859 portrait study of Henri Loeb, chief rabbi of Belgium.</p><p><br /></p><p>Leopold worked in the Brussels mint on the gold and silver coins of both Leopold I and Leopold II. Between 1867 and 1882 over 27 million 20 francs coins were minted and brought into circulation. Wiener used the old design created for the reverse of the 5 francs under Leopold I for the new coins minted under Leopold II and created a new obverse showing the head of Leopold II with a small beard. The coins of the 5 Francs still used French legends with the last coin leaving the Brussels mint in 1876. These silver coins were withdrawn from circulation in 1932. Most of the silver coins of this time period have a lower silver content than coins minted before except the 5 francs coin which retained the previous 900/1000 silver content. Leopold Wiener passed away on January 24, 1891 at the age of 67 and is considered the most important Belgian coin engraver of the second half of the 19th century.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Cachecoins, post: 4591713, member: 111237"]This coin was engraved in 1864 by the sculptor [B]Leopold Wiener[/B]. Wiener was from a Jewish family of engravers born on July 02, 1823. His older brother, Jacques Wiener, was a famous medalist who had apprenticed under their uncle L. Baruch, himself a fine engraver. Jacques is known for producing a series of medals of notable buildings and churches in Belgium and engraved the first official Belgian stamps. His younger brother Charles was also an engraver, serving at the Hague as engraver to King William III of Holland, later moving to London where he was assistant engraver at the Royal Mint. He then moved to Lisbon where he served as chief engraver of Portuguese coinage until moving back to Brussels to work with his brother Jacques where the two produced a large number of commemorative medals. Leopold studied under his older brother Jacques and then became a pupil of David d'Angers in Paris. In 1847 he returned to Belgium and started engraving a series of large historical medals which commemorated contemporary events and became very popular. Also in 1847 Wiener won a public competition looking for designs to replace the image of Leopold I on coinage. This would be his first work done for a national currency. He was appointed chief engraver at the Royal Mint of Belgium in 1864 after the death of Joseph-Pierre (J.P.) Braemt who created the first Belgian coins under the reign of Leopold I. He was responsible for all the currency of Leopold II (about 150 pieces) while he continued striking medals. He also enjoyed a considerable reputation as a sculptor and some of his monumental works still adorn public places in Belgium. Wiener was Jewish and one of his medals of note was an 1859 portrait study of Henri Loeb, chief rabbi of Belgium. Leopold worked in the Brussels mint on the gold and silver coins of both Leopold I and Leopold II. Between 1867 and 1882 over 27 million 20 francs coins were minted and brought into circulation. Wiener used the old design created for the reverse of the 5 francs under Leopold I for the new coins minted under Leopold II and created a new obverse showing the head of Leopold II with a small beard. The coins of the 5 Francs still used French legends with the last coin leaving the Brussels mint in 1876. These silver coins were withdrawn from circulation in 1932. Most of the silver coins of this time period have a lower silver content than coins minted before except the 5 francs coin which retained the previous 900/1000 silver content. Leopold Wiener passed away on January 24, 1891 at the age of 67 and is considered the most important Belgian coin engraver of the second half of the 19th century.[/QUOTE]
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