GIES: 1917 WWI Satirical Cast Iron Medal

cacheman

Here's a cool WWI medal I just purchased from a collector buddy. The piece was made by Ludwig Gies, a German expressionistic medallic artist who lived until 1966 in Munich.

This satirical piece displays his contempt with the amount of money Germany was spending for their involvement in WWI. Large bags full of millions in gold Marks dwarf the workers and are hauled, lifted, and weighed via manual labor by the common man. The German eagle sits pervertedly proud atop the scales.

Gies works are very, very rare. This is the only one of this subject that he made.



"German War Loans", 1917, Cast Iron, 67mm, 45.6g. Ernsting-WVZ 160a, Unique RRRR

theboz11

I just love " Unique", Thanks for letting us see such an important piece of Art.

cacheman

The collector I bought this from was in a bind and that's why he gave it up. Luckily I'm first in line for his remaining four Gies pieces in his collection when/if a similar situation raises its head....not to put negative juju on him, but I'd love to have the remaining examples.

"unique" I now have 15 Gies pieces, 9 of which are unique...

theboz11

With that many being unique, it makes for a small collector base

oldshep

Scott - Good to see a post from you - That is a real beauty, and think about how much heat is required to melt iron to cast a medal -!!!!!! A single medal!!

Shep