Hans Lindl. 1916.
OHNE FLEISS ——— KEINEN PREIS ("no pain, no gain" - see below). Cast iron, blackened, 73.0 mm, 81.8 g. Fast gussfrisch (near as-cast), minimal oxidized spots. Rare.
Obverse: Half length en face caricature of President Woodrow Wilson in coat and tie, open shirt collar, at writing desk, pen in right hand, left clutching money bag marked 100000000; title legend upper edges left and right, separated by image; three-line inscription WILSON IM .WELTKRIEG' / ALS EIFRIGER NOTEN / SCHREIBER (Wilson in the 'World War' as zealous note-writer) in exergue; artist's signature LINDL lower left; raised rim contiguous with exergue.
Reverse: On ground-line, naked, emaciated, blindfolded Justice, right hand upraised in blessing, left holding scales, in left pan marked D. German eagle, in right marked E. British bulldog; behind Justice, Death personified as skeleton stepping stealthily left to right, coin in right hand as left tips scale to favor Britain; legend NEUTRALITÄT U. —— GERECHTIGKEIT (neutrality a[nd] justice) left and right edges separated by image; year dates 1914 - 1916 in exergue; raised rim contiguous with exergue.
Cf: Schulman. 1918. La Guerre Européenne, Catalogue LXX, p. 30: no. 353; pl. V ( iron example).
Cf: Frankenhuis, M. (1919?) Catalogue of Medals - Medalets and Plaques Relative to the World War 1914 - 1919, p. 175, no. 1458; (illustrated, un-numbered plate).
Cf: Jones, M. 1979. The Dance of Death: Medallic Art of the First World War, p. 22: no. 36 (reverse only, iron example).
Cf: Phagan, P., and P. van Alfen. The Art of Devastation: Medals and Posters of the Great War. 2017, p. 279: no. 74 (iron example mis-cataloged as bronze).
Cf: https://karlgoetzmedals.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=493 for bronze example.One of four "
Totentanz" medal designs produced by Lindl. All were issued both in bronze and iron.
Ohne Fleiß kein(en) Preis is a rhyming German proverb (
Sprichwort) which is literally translated "without effort, no reward," thus similar in meaning to English "no pain, no gain." The medal's satirical imagery may refer to President Woodrow Wilson's strictly recorded maintenance of even-handed neutrality including "loans" to the Allies, or perhaps to the USA's raking in millions of dollars through unfairly balanced trade with the Allies while the British blockade strangles German mercantile activity.