Author Topic: For Italian loyalty  (Read 3024 times)

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  • Walther Eberbach.  1916.

    FÜR∙LATEINISCHE∙BUNDES∙ / TREUE / 1915 / TRIENT 1916 FRIAUL (for Latin [=Roman] alliance-loyalty 1915 - 1916, Trento, Friuli).  Cast iron, lightly blackened, 70 mm, 92 g.  Edge-punched DS 84  54 (indicating [Freunde der] Deutsche Schaumünze 84, [cast number] 54).  Vorzüglich (extremely fine), light spotting of finish.

    Obverse:  Death, portrayed as a skeleton kneeling on left leg, strangles the Roman Wolf; four-line title inscription in exergue; artist's monogram interlaced EW∙ upper left; raised rim. 

    Reverse: Within a double-lined edge, a pentagonal cartouche formed of "vertebral" borders; five-line inscription AN / SIDNEY / SONNINO / DEN∙REDEGE / WANDTEN (to Sidney Sonnino the eloquent); Edelweiss bloom below inscription; raised rim.

    Cf: Schulman.  1917.  La Guerre Européenne, Catalogue LXVII, p. 74: 675 D.

    Cf: Frankenhuis, M.  1919(?).  Catalogue of Medals - Medalets and Plaques Relative to the World War 1914 - 1919, p. 183: 1499.

    Cf: Steguweit, W.  1998.  Das Münzkabinett und die Förderung der Medaillenkunst: Künstlerbriefe 1914-1918 Medaillenedition (Das Kabinett 5), p. 98: 14; pl. 3.

    Cf: Klose, Dietrich O. A.  2016.  Europas Verderben 1914 1918: Deutsche und österreichische Medaillen auf den Ersten Weltkrieg,  p 115: 8.33 (an example with a simpler reverse dedication "SIDNEY SONNINO / zugeeignet," probably the first version).

    Cf: Lipp, Peter.  2018.  Heilbronn geprägt und gegossen: Stadtgeschichte auf Münzen und Medaillen vom Mittelalter bis heute, p. 182: no. 431.


    The Edelweiss is likely a reference to the Alpine region around Trento (Triente).

    Eberbach also produced this medal in bronze, possibly immediately after war's end when restrictions on bronze were lifted.

    When the terms of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, formed in 1882) expired in 1915, Italy secretly concluded the Treaty of London with the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, Russia), enticed by the promise of postwar territorial gains, including Trento and Friuli and adjacent areas under Austro-Hungarian control.  Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sydney Sonnino sanctioned the secret treaty, and Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915 and Germany in August 1916.
For Italian loyalty
« on: December 21, 2019, 10:30:31 AM »

Walther Eberbach.  1916.

FÜR∙LATEINISCHE∙BUNDES∙ / TREUE / 1915 / TRIENT 1916 FRIAUL (for Latin [=Roman] alliance-loyalty 1915 - 1916, Trento, Friuli).  Cast iron, lightly blackened, 70 mm, 92 g.  Edge-punched DS 84  54 (indicating [Freunde der] Deutsche Schaumünze 84, [cast number] 54).  Vorzüglich (extremely fine), light spotting of finish.

Obverse:  Death, portrayed as a skeleton kneeling on left leg, strangles the Roman Wolf; four-line title inscription in exergue; artist's monogram interlaced EW∙ upper left; raised rim. 

Reverse: Within a double-lined edge, a pentagonal cartouche formed of "vertebral" borders; five-line inscription AN / SIDNEY / SONNINO / DEN∙REDEGE / WANDTEN (to Sidney Sonnino the eloquent); Edelweiss bloom below inscription; raised rim.

Cf: Schulman.  1917.  La Guerre Européenne, Catalogue LXVII, p. 74: 675 D.

Cf: Frankenhuis, M.  1919(?).  Catalogue of Medals - Medalets and Plaques Relative to the World War 1914 - 1919, p. 183: 1499.

Cf: Steguweit, W.  1998.  Das Münzkabinett und die Förderung der Medaillenkunst: Künstlerbriefe 1914-1918 Medaillenedition (Das Kabinett 5), p. 98: 14; pl. 3.

Cf: Klose, Dietrich O. A.  2016.  Europas Verderben 1914 1918: Deutsche und österreichische Medaillen auf den Ersten Weltkrieg,  p 115: 8.33 (an example with a simpler reverse dedication "SIDNEY SONNINO / zugeeignet," probably the first version).

Cf: Lipp, Peter.  2018.  Heilbronn geprägt und gegossen: Stadtgeschichte auf Münzen und Medaillen vom Mittelalter bis heute, p. 182: no. 431.


The Edelweiss is likely a reference to the Alpine region around Trento (Triente).

Eberbach also produced this medal in bronze, possibly immediately after war's end when restrictions on bronze were lifted.

When the terms of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, formed in 1882) expired in 1915, Italy secretly concluded the Treaty of London with the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, Russia), enticed by the promise of postwar territorial gains, including Trento and Friuli and adjacent areas under Austro-Hungarian control.  Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sydney Sonnino sanctioned the secret treaty, and Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915 and Germany in August 1916.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2019, 10:13:39 PM by Haarmann »