102654 | GERMANY. Fregattenkapitän Karl von Müller silver Medal.

102654  |  GERMANY. Fregattenkapitän Karl von Müller silver Medal. Issued 1914. World War I series: The cruiser Emden I (33mm, 14.45 g, 12h). By L. C. Lauer in Nürnberg.

 

FREGATTENKAPITÄN VON MÜLLER, uniformed bust facing slightly left, head facing // Naval cruiser Emden I sailing right upon the seas; iron cross above; all within wreath of oak and laurel branches; in three lines in decorative cartouche in exergue, DER DEUTSCHEN STOLZ / DER FEINDE SCHRECK / S. M. S. EMDEN. Edge: SILBER 990.

 

Zetzmann 4051. PCGS SP-62. Stunningly brilliant and prooflike in the fields, with frosting upon the devices and some burnished golden toning at the peripheries.

 

Completed in 1909, the Emden I spent much of her early life in the far east with the German East Asia Squadron at Qingdao (Tsingtao). Just before the beginning of World War I, she came under the control of Karl von Müller, who saw her capture numerous enemy ships after the outbreak of hostilities, notably roaming and raiding in the Indian Ocean and launching a surprise attack at the Battle of Penang. She met her end near the Cocos Islands in November 1914 while engaging an Australian cruiser, the HMAS Sydney. Nearly a third of her crew perished in the attack, while the remainder was mostly taken as prisoner by the Aussies.

 

Upload: 15 November 2024.