100755 | BELGIUM. Charles Marcellis bronze Medal.

100755 | BELGIUM. Charles Marcellis bronze Medal. Issued 1854. The Covering of the Antwerp (Anvers/Antwerpen) Stock Exchange (60mm, 94.65 g, 12h). By L. & J. Wiener in Brussels.

 

A CHARLES MARCELLIS LE COMMERCE D' ANVERS, bare head left / Interior perspective view of the bourse hall; in four lines in exergue, COUVERTURE DE LA BOURSE / D'ANVERS / DÉCISION DU CONSEIL COMMUNAL / DU 27 JUILLET 1850. Edge: Plain.

 

Van Hoydonck 117; Reinecke 147. Choice Mint State. Charming brown surfaces, with an underlying luster; great relief and detail. Compare to a similar example in the Dorotheum fall auction, 16 November 2016, lot 462 (which realized a hammer of €240 [plus buyer's fee]).

 

A man who would follow many career paths, Charles Marcellis studied law, though only briefly pursuing the profession before writing poetry, some of which was well received in literary magazines. He then went on to have a fleeting role in Belgian politics before ultimately beginning his defining career in the world of engineering and, specifically, metallurgy. He oversaw the construction of a cast iron bridge (the "Marcellis" Bridge) in Ghent in 1844 and a cast iron domed covering to the Stock Exchange Hall in Antwerp in 1854—the focal point of this medal's reverse. Though the hall burned just four years later in 1858, its importance is still recognized.

 

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