"1729" (1774) Medal Hoffman-251 Wurzb-6238 Ag Moses Mendelssohn SP(PCGS#545368)

February 2025 Collectors Choice Online Auction - World Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

71077

等级

UNC Details

价格

14,849

详细说明

Wurzbach-6238; Hoffman-251. By Jakob Abraham & Son. Diameter: 41mm. Obverse: Bust of Mendelssohn facing left, perimeter legend MOSES MENDELSSOHN above; signature I. ABRAHAMS & F. below bust; Reverse: Butterfly atop human skull, perimeter legend PHAEDON. above; two-line legend and date NATUS / MDCCXXIX in exergue below. Mendelssohn was an important German Enlightenment writer who dwelled on topics such as aesthetics, metaphysics (arguing its many similarities with mathematics), theology (irritating both Jewish and Christian critics), and political theory. He co-authored a series of journals with Gotthold Lessing. The reverse alludes to his publication <em>Phaedo: or On the Immortality of the Soul, in Three Dialogues.</em><p>This medal offers pleasing argent surfaces with a hint of cobalt and plum in the fields and champagne design features. There is evidence of die rust in the reverse fields. The noted tooling is a small area near the rim and the letter "P" in the legend. A popular type for its jarring reverse iconography.