Coin Community Family of Web Sites Join Thousands of Coin, Bullion, & Money Collectors
Royal Canadian Mint products, Canadian, Polish, American, and world coins and banknotes. Shop for APMEX Bullion on eBay!300,000 items to help build your collection! Specializing in Modern Numismatics Coin, Banknote and Medal Collectors's Online Mall Join Thousands of Coin, Bullion, & Money Collectors Vancouvers #1 Coin and Paper Money Dealer








Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?


This page may contain links that result in small commissions to keep this free site up and running.

Welcome Guest! Registering and/or logging in will remove the anchor (bottom) ads. It's Free!

Help With Information On Belgian Token/Medal.

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.
Author Previous TopicReplies: 9 / Views: 793Next Topic  
Pillar of the Community

Australia
1610 Posts
 Posted 06/17/2023  04:48 am Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add David Graham to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
Hi everyone,

I have a Belgian medal from 1905 that I'm trying to find some more info on. It seems to be for a munitions/army Expo. Besides an old entry on Numisbids I can't locate any further information.

Thanks
Image is from Numisbids.

Help-With-Information-On-Belgian-Token/Medal.
Valued Member
United States
395 Posts
 Posted 06/17/2023  07:59 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add dar76124 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I think it may be from the Liege International Exposition. Maybe from an exhibitor? From Wikipedia

The Liège International Exposition (French: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Liège) was a world's fair held in Liège, Belgium, from 27 April to 6 November 1905[1][2]:#8202;416#8202; just 8 years after a Belgian exposition held in Brussels. Intended to show Liège's industrial importance it also marked 75 years of Belgian Independence[1] and 40 years of Leopold II's reign
Pillar of the Community
publius's Avatar
United States
807 Posts
 Posted 06/17/2023  11:35 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add publius to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Yes, definitely some kind of medal from the Liege World's Fair. The allegorical head on the obverse is wearing a mural crown, typical of personifications of fortified cities.

If the text, "Deutsche Waffen" et cetera is in relief, struck up rather than engraved, we can infer that it was made to be distributed by the exhibitor named, rather than given to them as a prize or acknowledgement of participation. I'm guessing that the design of the uninscribed side, and quite possibly the encircling inscription, was copied from the official prize and souvenir medals of the Fair itself, or else that the mint which produced those also made "customized" versions for the big exhibitors. Either way, the medal pictured is supremely ironic, considering that only ten years later, the products of the "German Weapons and Munitions Works Berlin-Karlsruhe" reduced Liege to ruins in what was generally regarded as one of the great acts of barbarity of the First World War.

What size, weight, and metal is your specimen?
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1610 Posts
 Posted 06/17/2023  4:09 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add David Graham to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks for the input.
Weight = 15.3g
Diameter = 33mm
Thickness = 2mm
Non-magnetic
And yes, what irony. And yes, text is in relief.
Edited by David Graham
06/17/2023 4:10 pm
Pillar of the Community
publius's Avatar
United States
807 Posts
 Posted 06/17/2023  4:32 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add publius to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I have here a French biographical dictionary of coin engravers and medaillists, but I cannot make out the name on the obverse, near the front of the neck, from the photo. If you can work it out, I'll look it up.
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1610 Posts
 Posted 06/17/2023  6:30 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add David Graham to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks Publius. Looks like R.M. Image provided.
Help-With-Information-On-Belgian-Token/Medal.
Pillar of the Community
publius's Avatar
United States
807 Posts
 Posted 06/18/2023  9:35 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add publius to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Vesely's "Catalogue of Coin Designers and Engravers" lists only one plausible match, Rudolf Ferdinand Marschall of Austria, born 1873 died 1967. Marschall is credited with the obverses of the 1, 5, 10, 20, and 100 corona of 1908, the 5 and 20 corona of 1909, the 10 corona of 1909—12, and the 2 schilling of 1935. Also the Bulgarian 50 stotinki, 1 and 2 leva of 1912—16, and the 20 and 100 leva of 1912 ; and a plaquette for the international laryngo-rhinology congress of 1908.

Now, as it happens, some of those coins are in my collection. Unfortunately, inspection of the 1 and 5 corona of 1908 shows no signature on the obverse, and the 50 stotinki of 1912 has "R. Marschall" fully written out, so I can't compare against the "R.M." here. I don't really have enough material for a fair comparison, but it doesn't look like the same style to me.

I seem to have hidden the French book from myself for the moment, but as soon as I disinter it I'll check and see if there are any further clues.
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1610 Posts
 Posted 06/19/2023  01:51 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add David Graham to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks Publius.
Pillar of the Community
Learn More...
Keith67's Avatar
United States
6526 Posts
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1610 Posts
 Posted 06/19/2023  3:43 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add David Graham to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks Keith12. That's the one.
  Previous TopicReplies: 9 / Views: 793Next Topic  

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.



    




Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us  |  Advertise Here  |  Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum © 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Forums
It took 0.25 seconds to rattle this change. Forums