101930 | GERMANY. Silesia. Noah's Ark silver Medal.

101930  |  GERMANY. Silesia. Noah's Ark silver Medal. Issued circa 1736. On the desire for an end to famine (21mm, 2.60 g, 12h). By J. L. Oexlein in Nürnberg.

 

BEFIEHL DEM HERREN DEINE WEGE (surrender yourself to the Lord...), Noah's Ark facing right upon the water; above, dove flying left, with olive branch in beak; in two lines in exergue, UND HOFFE / AUF IHN (...and place your hope in Him...) / ER WIRDS WOHL MACHEN (...for He will do it), seven worshipers on their knees in act of prayer; lighted altar between them; rainbow arcing across the sky above; representation of an ark (alluding to Noah's Ark atop Mt. Ararat) upon hill in background to right. Edge: Plain. F&S 4240; Erlanger 2751.

 

Mint State. Extremely lustrous and prooflike, with some golden toning accentuating the highlights; some lightly scattered hairlines are noted in the fields. A charming and fairly small medal.

 

The precise sentiments of this small medal are not entirely known, as some have ascribed it to the plight of Salzburg emigrants, while others suggest an end to famine being experienced locally in Silesia. Given the iconography, a famine seems more likely given the cataclysmic effect of the flooding relating to Noah's Ark, but the religious sentiment is strongly recounted no matter the event commemorated.

 

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