Help ID medallion, polish, stanislaw ostrorog
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Posts: 25 ✭
I've tried posting this before, but the post never gets through.
Need some assistance identifying the medallion, will post pics and links that I've managed to find in separate posts. To see if the link or the images cause the issue with making this post.
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It seems that the link is causing issues. Unable to post that. I've managed to find a Stanislaw Ostrorog, and a webpage with information about him. Although name and when he lived is spot on, the coat of arms looks very similar, but it is not identical...
The finish on the medal strikes me as having a modern look but I am no expert.
An expert has looked at it, and while having no idea about value or any other information at hand about the medallion, nothing struck him as being suspicious about it. (Was just after my grandfather died, some 25 years ago) He flagged a few coins, the $20 gold coin that I've posted about was one that he flagged as fake, and grandpa told me that it was a fake too. He bought it cheap by another collector that had been fooled.
It could still be fake or modern ofc, but why would you make that medallion, out of any you could make?
A half forgotten polish noble man, and even worse, a medallion to celebrate that he is 22. It just feels too unimportant and weird.
Googling with quotes brings up just this, but definitely should be a start. The Polish description is followed by French on the next page - that might be easier to chew on for English speakers/translation.
https://books.google.com/books?id=gltfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq="ostrorog+anno+etatis
There's a not-great plate pic in the back:
Thank you for that find! I'll continue pulling on that thread.
I also emailed a polish professor in archaeology and asked for details about this medallion. I got a very interesting reply a while ago. Thought I'd share it with this community too.
indeed, your medal depicts Stanisław Ostroróg (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisław_Ostroróg_(Kastellan)), then a great landlord from western Greater Poland (the master of Grodzisk, Międzychód and Chodecz), who became later the castellan of Międzyrzecz and one of the leaders of Polish Lutheran Protestants. The medal is attributed to Matthes Gebel from Nuremberg (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthes_Gebel), and, as Marian Gumowski observed, it belongs to the most beautiful private medals of the sixteenth century.
The medal is - as far as I know - absent from Polish public coollections and only one specimen was illustrated in publications from the interwar period, with no collection indicated, though.
The price is diffucult to guess. A nice bronze medaille aof Gebel was sold for EUR 320 (https://www.dorotheum.com/de/l/7385368/). An excellent silver specimen got EUR 12,400 (https://onebid.pl/pl/medale-ferdinand-archiduc-1521-1564-medaille-amitie-entre-les-docteurs-heinrich-ribisch-georg-hoermann-et-konrad-maier-par-matthes-gebel-1531-nuremberg/1639584; https://muenzenwoche.de/numismatische-herbstauktionen-bei-hirsch/). Here two good medals were sold at GBP 1000 and 1100 (https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=sale&sid=3274&cid=98767), and another one, EUR 4500 (https://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=7126209&AucID=8321&Lot=684&Val=f97d54067ddddea51a902532695e47c4). A small and a bit worn one one can buy for EUR 2200: https://www.marktplaats.nl/v/postzegels-en-munten/penningen-en-medailles/a1503737835-kleine-zilver-medaille-von-matthes-gebel-1530-fugger-graf. All in all, I think that the price of EUR 4000-5000 would be reasonable. But I cannot determine whether your specimen is an authentic one, looking on these photos only.
Wow, if authentic that will be a valuable medal. The question is, is is authentic or is it a later copy of a rare and valuable medal? Another question is ... just who would be able to authenticate such a rare medal? I think your search for answers on this medal has just begun. Gook luck. I hope it turns out to be a genuine original.
I sent a reply, asking just that, and also if he knew if this particular medallion had counterfeits.
Not familiar with this particular piece, however, many Polish medals of this era did have later restrikes issued
Justin Meunier
Boardwalk Numismatics