102412 | ITALY. Milano Exposition gilt bronze Medal.

102412  |  ITALY. Milano Exposition gilt bronze Medal. Issued 1906 (44mm, 41.76, 12h). By E. Saroldi by S. Johnson in Milan.

 

ESPOSIZIONE INTERNAZIONALE / MILANO 1906, seminude male and female personifications of the arts and commerce standing right, holding various attributes: dancing figure, locomotive, ship // Seminude male worker seated right, leaning against industrial drill and looking off at a distance; in background to left, locomotive emerging from tunnel; INAVGVRAZIONE / DEL SEMPIONE in two lines to right. Edge: Plain.

 

Döry/Kubinszky 183. Choice Mint State. Yellow-bronze surfaces, with a charming matte aspect. A great Art Nouveau rendition.

 

Known as the "Great Expo of Work," the international exposition held in Milano in 1906 received over 4 millions visits and covered around 250 acres. The crown jewel for display was the Simplon Tunnel, which had been recently completed the prior year. Forming a border between Switzerland (to the north) and Italy (to the south), the Alps have historically presented a challenge to travel and traversing them. As such, going through rather than over or around is the optimal route, though it requires a great deal of engineering. The Simplon Tunnel was meant to accomplish exactly this—connecting Brig to Domodossola—by means of a massive tunneling through the Lepontine Alps. At the time of its completion in 1905, it stood as the longest railway tunnel in the world until it was surpassed in 1982 by the Japanese Dai-Shimizu Tunnel (大清水トンネル).

 

Upload: 1 June 2023.