103018 | GERMANY. Nürnberg. Marriage silver Medal.

103018  |  GERMANY. Nürnberg. Marriage silver Medal. Issued circa 1700 (42mm, 12h). By Georg Hautsch.

 

GOTT GEBE SEINEN SEGEN REICHLICH VBER EVCH (May God grant unto you his manifold blessings), young bridal couple standing facing one another, holding hands before God the Father, who blesses the marriage; guardian angel to the left, old man to the right, radiant sun above // LAST VNS GOTT BITTEN, DEN WIR SIND KINDER D HEILIGN (Let us ask God, for we are all children of the Holy One), bridal pair kneeling in prayer before the burning brazier; to the left, angel kneeling left, driving sword through the head of a demon; marriage bed in the background.

 

GPH 1025; Erlanger Coll. 2209. NGC AU-58. Lightly toned, with a good deal of alluring brilliance. A stunning example of the type that is seemingly a bit conservatively assessed, especially by the standards of the two major services.

 

While one may now purchase a silver round, usually struck to the weight of one ounce and with a variety of religions-themed designs, as a gift for a couple's impending or recent nuptials, the practice is in no way modern. In 18th and 19th century Germany in particular, the practice was commonplace, with mints in Nürnberg striking countless tokens and medals to be used as marriage gifts. These various workshops were not limited to just marriage commemoratives, however, as other religious-themed topics were routinely struck for presentation, such as baptisms and confirmations, while others touched upon parables throughout the Bible. One of the leading references for this area of medallic art is Kreß auction 115 from 1960, which presented the combined collections of Marie Luise Goppel and Dr. Plum-Holler, commonly referred to as Goppel-Plum-Holler, or simply GPH.

 

This item was featured in our e-Sylum ad.

 

Upload: 2 December 2024.