100840 | GERMANY. Four Horseman/Propaganda zinc Medal.

100840 | GERMANY. Four Horsemen/Propaganda zinc Medal. Issued 1918. World War I series: The Ravages of War (34mm, 13.80 g, 12h). By B. H. Mayer's mint in Pforzheim.

 

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—holding bomb, torch, sword, and scythe, respectively—riding left over the globe (focused upon the eastern hemisphere) plunging into the clouds; a bomb explodes over Eastern Europe / ZUR ERINNERUNG / AN DEN / WELTKRIEG / 1914/18 in five lines; all within wreath, with crossed sword and torch at ties. Edge: Plain.

 

Cf. Zetzmann 2132 (silver, issued 1915) & Zetzmann 2160b (metal unlisted, issued 1916). Choice Mint State. Slate gray surfaces, with some underlying brilliance. Very rare.

 

As both sides of this first global war began to dig in, the immense scale and tremendous toll began to emerge, as advancements in technology allowed for far greater devastation and ravages to unfold. This medal quite appropriately portrays the Four Horsemaen of the Apocalypse, plunging the entire globe into chaos and destruction, with grenades—a new aspect to contemporary warfare—being hurled by one of the riders.

 

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