100875 | GERMANY. Braunschweig-Calenberg-Hannover. Satirical silver Medal.

100875 | GERMANY. Braunschweig-Calenberg-Hannover. Satirical silver Medal. Issued 1982 by Preussag AG. On the topic of producing and wasting money (65mm, 87.63 g, 12h). After the undated 1686 original by H. Bonhorst.

 

SIC VENIUNT (money out), peg-legged Saturn advancing left, holding cornucopia filled with coins over shoulder; mining town in background, with miners at work / SIC ABEUNT (money in), peg-legged Saturn, older and winged, advancing right, emptying cornucopia of coins into well; peacocks and town scene in background. Edge: Plain.

 

Cf. Fiala 2310 (for prototype); cf. Brockmann 740a (same); cf. Vogelsang Coll. 560 (same); cf. Müseler 10.4.3/1c (same). Choice Gem Mint State. Exceedingly prooflike and mirrored surfaces, with a deep iridescence throughout. One of the rare restrikes of famous mining-related medals issued by Preussag AG—originally formed as a Prussian mining company in 1923. Compare to another Preussag restrike—a 1990 issue copying a 1690 silver medal from Freiberg—in Höhn 81 (23 October 2014), lot 2784, which realized a hammer of €620.

 

During the 1970's and into the very early 1990's, the firm Preussag AG commissioned the restriking of various historical medals from the region, many of which featured mining scenes from the 17th and 18th centuries. Though exact mintages haven't been discovered by this cataloger, nearly all of the issues appear to be rather rare. Additionally, they offer a chance to acquire pieces that, in terms of the originals, do not appear for sale very often, and, when they do, are not in the greatest states of preservation.

 

This satirical piece points toward the concept of 'money out, money in,' or even 'the production and subsequent waste of money.' The idea that society is involved in countless ways to produce wealth—merely to find countless ways to spend it—wouldn't exactly appear to be a new concept, as the original piece by the medalist Heinrich Bonhorst was done in 1686.

 

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