102808 | SWEDEN. Pontus Wikner silver Medal.

102808  |  SWEDEN. Pontus Wikner silver Medal. Issued 1938 for the 50th anniversary of the death of the philosopher and professor of aesthetics (45mm, 44.73 g, 12h). By Erik Lindberg at the Stockholm mint.

 

PONTUS • WIKNER • NAT • MDCCCXXXVII • OB MDCCCLXXXVIII, bust left; VER • SACRVM / EVOCABAT in two lines in exergue // CARUS PLATO • CARIOR • FILIUS • ILLE • HOMINIS, Christ seated left on plinth, raising hand in benediction and instructing youth kneeling to left. Edge: SILVER 1938.

 

Ehrensvärd 378. Gem Mint State. Alluring gunmetal gray toning, with some enchanting iridescence and a great matte nature. Fairly rare, with a mintage of just 125 pieces.

 

Pontus Wikner was a Swedish professor of aesthetics who lectured in Oslo, Norway. A rather early and important figure in the discourse of homosexuality, Wikner was instrumental in the homosexual liberation movement in Sweden and wrote of the difficulty of the coming-out process. Quite progressive for the late 19th century, he believed that nothing could be considered bad if it neither injured nor harmed anyone, and begged for all who read his writings to allow the right for same-sex marriage.

 

Upload: 17 June 2026.