A Continuing Thread ~ Post Your Tokens, Medals, Exonumia Acquisitions

Winston Churchill
Sterling Medal UK Spink & Son Ltd. in case
Born November 30, 1874
Died January 24, 1965 ( I deliberately waited till midnight to post since it is also now Jan 24th )




Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
British statesman, orator, and author who as prime minister rallied the British people during World War II and led his country from the brink of defeat to victory.






At the darkest - yet also the finest - hour in British history, in June 1940, the London Evening Standard published a drawing by its great cartoonist David Low, which, in the three word caption 'Very Well, Alone!' - starkly summed up the nation's situation.

Sir David Alexander Cecil Low was a political cartoonist and caricaturist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom for many years.

Medallic Art Co Bronze
Mount Rushmore ~ Black Elk Medal circa 1973



Black Elk was born into an Oglala Lakota family in December 1863 along the Little Powder River. ( Montana ) He was a second cousin of the war chief Crazy Horse.

When Black Elk was nine years old, he was suddenly taken ill; he lay prone and unresponsive for several days. During this time he had a great vision in which he was visited by the Thunder Beings, and taken to the "Six Grandfathers" — spiritual representatives of the six sacred directions: west, east, north, south, above, and below.
Mount Rushmore was originally known to the Lakota Sioux as "The Six Grandfathers"





In his vision, Black Elk is taken to the center of the earth, and to the central mountain of the world. Black Elk was residing at the axis of the six sacred directions.
As Black Elk related:


He worked among his people as a healer and medicine man.
In 1887, Black Elk traveled to England with Buffalo Bill's Wild West.
On May 11, 1887, the troupe put on a command performance for Queen Victoria, whom they called "Grandmother England." Black Elk was among the crowd at her Golden Jubilee.
Black Elk participated in the fighting at Wounded Knee in 1890. While on horseback, he charged soldiers and helped to rescue some of the wounded. He arrived after many of Spotted Elk's (Big Foot's) band of people had been shot, and he was grazed by a bullet to his hip.



This medal depicts a portrait of his son. Benjamin Black Elk (1899-1973), became known as the "Fifth Face of Mount Rushmore", posing in the 1950s and 1960s for tourists at the memorial. Benjamin played an uncredited role in the 1962 film How the West Was Won.

Beautiful additions, TNG! Especially love the Mount Rushmore ~ Black Elk Medal.

A couple Treasures of the Louvre
Franklin Mint medals

The Mona Lisa
or in French as on the reverse
La Joconde by Leonardo de Vinci 1503

2.75 inch diam 38.6 grams
.925 Sterling silver



The Mona Lisa has survived for more than 500 years, and an international commission convened in 1952 noted that "the picture is in a remarkable state of preservation."



Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes. Some researchers claim that it was common at this time for genteel women to pluck these hairs, as they were considered unsightly.

On 21 August 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre. The theft was not discovered until the next day.
French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who had once called for the Louvre to be "burnt down", came under suspicion and was arrested and imprisoned. Apollinaire implicated his friend Pablo Picasso, who was brought in for questioning. Both were later exonerated. Two years later the thief revealed himself. Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia had stolen the Mona Lisa by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet, and walking out with it hidden under his coat after the museum had closed.
Peruggia was an Italian patriot who believed Leonardo's painting should have been returned for display in an Italian museum.
After having kept the Mona Lisa in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient and was caught when he attempted to sell it to directors of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It was exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery for over two weeks and returned to the Louvre on 4 January 1914.
Peruggia served six months in prison for the crime and was hailed for his patriotism in Italy.

The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa and its subsequent return, however, was reported worldwide, leading to a massive increase in public recognition of the painting.
Before a 1962-63 tour, the painting was assessed for insurance at $100 million. Insurance was not bought. Instead, more was spent on security.
Adjusted for inflation using the US Consumer Price Index, $100 million in 1962 was around $800 million in 2017 making it by far the most valued painting in the world.
The consensus of art historians in the 21st century maintains the long-held traditional opinion, that the painting depicts Lisa del Giocondo.

For upcoming Valentines Day

Cupid (Love) and Psyche
or in French as on the reverse
L'Amour Et Psyche by François Gerard 1798

2.75 inch diam 38.6 grams
.925 Sterling silver



The story of Cupid and Psyche concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche ("Soul" or "Breath of Life") and Cupid, and their ultimate union in marriage.



The fame of Psyche's beauty threatens to eclipse that of Venus herself, and the love goddess sends Cupid to work her revenge. Cupid, however, becomes enamored of Psyche, and arranges for her to be taken to his palace. He visits her by night, warning her not to try to look upon him. Psyche's envious sisters convince her that her lover must be a hideous monster, and she finally introduces a lamp into their chamber to see him. Startled by his beauty, she drips hot oil from the lamp and wakes him. He abandons her. She wanders the earth looking for him, and finally submits to the service of Venus, who tortures her. The goddess then sends Psyche on a series of quests. Each time she despairs, and each time she is given divine aid. On her final task, she is to retrieve a dose of Proserpina's beauty from the underworld. She succeeds, but on the way back can't resist opening the box in the hope of benefitting from it herself, whereupon she falls into a torpid sleep. Cupid finds her in this state, and revives her by returning the sleep to the box. Cupid grants her immortality so the couple can be wed as equals.

Beautiful additions.

A wonderful post, TNG!

Thanks guys.
I will certainly admit that I take what I find from the internet and try to condense it for a more general short post. I certainly have been having fun re-learning the stuff I forgot in school or read in books.

I never knew that Helen of Troy was "hatched" LOL
Leda and the Swan is a kind of creepy sculpture so I opted for a rather less shocking art image to include with the post above.

Looks like I'm on a romantic theme lately I suppose.
Maybe it's a Valentines Day time of year that got me.

Very nice!