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I finally acquired a Jacques Wiener medal--St. Paul's Cathedral, London

My full ANA report is on the US side: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/12068892. Here, I present the section on my darkside acquisition, a long-term resident on the "that would be cool to have" list.

If you ever talk with Dave Wnuck, you'll find he's really passionate about nice coins, regardless of price point. While I showed him what I brought of my collection the day before, I had some questions for him about Jacques Wiener medals. I've handled a few over the years and always wanted one--the artistic skill is simply incredible. After narrowing down the long cathedral series to a few of the more impressive designs, I took a look at examples of two of the better designs that he had available. I fell in love with this St. Paul's Cathedral medal for its combination of design and superb surfaces and color. It's mesmerizing in hand, and small lighting changes reveal new details.




JK Coin Photography - eBay Consignments | High Quality Photos | LOW Prices | 20% of Consignment Proceeds Go to Pancreatic Cancer Research

Comments

  • bigmarty58bigmarty58 Posts: 1,998 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Simply stunning medal!

    Enthusiastic collector of British pre-decimal and Canadian decimal circulation coins.
  • Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Very impressive !!! :)

    Timbuk3
  • YQQYQQ Posts: 3,264 ✭✭✭✭✭

    wow wonder how long it took to get it ready to be struck?

    Today is the first day of the rest of my life
  • StorkStork Posts: 5,205 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I saw all those, it was a fabulous display (assuming it was the same table--my brain was a little fuzzy then but the medals jumped out--plus a display box). It would have been hard to just pick one!


  • airplanenutairplanenut Posts: 21,881 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Stork said:
    I saw all those, it was a fabulous display (assuming it was the same table--my brain was a little fuzzy then but the medals jumped out--plus a display box). It would have been hard to just pick one!

    Yes, they were in a display box. Luckily I was focused on the design, which narrowed it down to two choices, and I found this one to have superior color and surfaces, so it was an easy choice :)

    JK Coin Photography - eBay Consignments | High Quality Photos | LOW Prices | 20% of Consignment Proceeds Go to Pancreatic Cancer Research
  • hookedoncoinshookedoncoins Posts: 1,231 ✭✭✭

    Beautiful design and detail.

  • KnellKnell Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @airplanenut

    Just an FYI, here's an email I received from a J.Weiner medal expert when I inquired about it from another medal expert and he forwarded the photo of my St.Paul Chathedral medal to this gentleman.

    Dear Mr. xxxx,

    Congratulations on acquiring a Wiener cathedral medal! Did you happen to purchase the recent one listed on eBay? I had noticed a French legend specimen offered not too long ago.

    So a little history - By February 1853 Jacques Wiener had begun the decision process for which English cathedrals he would include in his "Most Remarkable Edifices of Europe" series (known now colloquially, though somewhat incorrectly, as his "cathedral medals"). He relied on English artist Henry Mogford for advice and assistance in this regard. By October of that year Wiener had selected the five cathedrals to be depicted (St. Paul's, York, Winchester, Westminster Abbey, and Lincoln) and had started the engraving of St. Paul's. By the end of December he had struck some unknown quantity of the medals and shipped these to Elkington & Co. in London in January. Ultimately there were three distinct varieties struck. The reverse die used by Wiener was actually a two-part die - the main body of the die which included the interior view, and a separate exergue die which contained all of the reverse legends. The two dies were held together by a retaining ring. The first variety has the word "CENTURY" spelled out in full at the end of each of the first two lines of the inscription. The exergue die began to badly crack, necessitating a new exergue die. This second exergue die contained legends in French rather than English. Personally, I believe this was an error and this exergue die was replaced relatively quickly with a new exergue die having the more appropriate English legends. This third die is most readily identified by "century" at the end of the second line of the inscription being engraved as "CENTY" This exergue die also ultimately suffered a multitude of die cracks and chips. The likely culprit was that the exergue die was too thin (~3-4mm) and could not withstand the punishment inflicted by being (presumably) the hammer die. The sequence of the varieties can be established by examining the progression of die erosion/failure in the main body of the reverse die which was common to all three varieties.

    The French legend variety is the scarcest of the three varieties, followed by the initial variety, and with the final variety being the most common. So you have done well in acquiring the French legend variety.

    If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

    Regards,
    xxxxxx

  • KnellKnell Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭✭

    By the way I like your St.Paul medal as well and I am still trying to acquire one with an English Legend. Thanks.

  • ZoharZohar Posts: 6,629 ✭✭✭✭✭
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,934 ✭✭✭✭✭

    HAY! I have one of those! ;)

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • bobsrbobsr Posts: 392 ✭✭✭✭

    Congratulations AirPlaneNut:
    That is undeniably one of the most impressively beautiful works of art I have ever looked upon. You must be very proud to own such a specimen.
    Bob Sr CEO Fieldtechs

  • brg5658brg5658 Posts: 2,384 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Congrats on your new Wiener. It's a looker. :blush::lol:

    -Brandon
    -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
    My sets: [280+ horse coins] :: [France Sowers] :: [Colorful world copper] :: [Beautiful world coins]
    -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

  • FlatwoodsFlatwoods Posts: 4,122 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nice medal.

  • ajaanajaan Posts: 17,071 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Boncu said:
    Perhaps none of you is aware that a variety with GERMAN legend exists, too :

    Nice medal.

    Side note: 4 post in 10 years. Quality over quantity right?


    DPOTD-3
    'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'

    CU #3245 B.N.A. #428


    Don
  • BoncuBoncu Posts: 7 ✭✭✭

    @ajaan said:
    Nice medal.

    Side note: 4 post in 10 years. Quality over quantity right?

    Thanks.

    You're right ... ;)

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