103049 | SWITZERLAND. Bern. Silver Academic Prize Medal or "Gärtnerpfennig".

103049  |  SWITZERLAND. Bern. Silver Academic Prize Medal or "Gärtnerpfennig". Issued circa 1845 for outstanding pupils in the canton (32mm, 6.68 g, 11h).

 

CULTURA MITESCIT (culture ripens), gardener kneeling left, trimming a sapling; basket of shoots to left; PRÆM DILIG (a prize for diligence) in exergue // RESPUBLICA BERNENSIS, crowned garnished cantonal coat-of-arms of Bern within wreath composed of palm fronds. Edge: Reeded.

 

SM 711; Meier & Häusler 171. Choice Mint State. Some scattered deeper toning along with an enticing gunmetal gray.

 

Quite popular in the canton of Bern during the 18th and early 19th centuries, the so-called “Gärtnerpfennigs,” of “gardener’s pennies,” were a special form of scholastic prize given to deserving students for their academic achievements. They featured a kneeling gardener on one side, as the gardener was considered an allegory of diligence.

 

Upload: 4 August 2025.