At our Auction 9 – Interesting medals

Two weeks ago, we showed the coronation medal of Augustus the Strong. You are surely wondering whether the offer will include any interesting items from this department. To dispel all doubts, we decided to show another 3 interesting and sought-after medals.

The first one is again the medal of Augustus II the Strong, but this time it was minted on the occasion of the peace made in Altranstadt in 1706. What was the settlement about? The King of Poland, before the King of Sweden, undertook several things:

First, breaking the alliance with the Russian Empire.

Second, the surrender of the crown to Stanisław Leszczyński.

Third, consent to the wintering of Swedish troops in the Saxony Electorate.

Fourthly, the handing over to Charles XII Jan Reinhold Patkul – the leader of the anti-Swedish opposition of the Livonian nobility.

As we can see, the room concerned the submission to the Swedes, but it left behind an extraordinary memento in the form of a medal of extraordinary appearance. The following specimen additionally does not have any abrasions, but the perfect mint shine is clearly visible.

Obverse: Hercules (interpretively identified with August Moncy) gives his hand to Mars (interpreted as Charles XII), both figures are trampling on a lying figure who is the personification of Poland, along the edge is a legend:

COGNATO SANGVINE VICTA•, PAX SVECIAM INTER ET/POLONIAM PACTA/ALT RANSTAD•/MDCVI•; the medalist’s initials above the segment line P•H•M•;

Reverse: Hermes flying over the panorama of Leipzig, legend along the rim:

ALTA PAX GENTEIS ALAT ENSESQVE LATEANT,  LIPSIA•;

Rim: IIDEM INTER SE POSITO CERTAMINE REGES FOEDERA IVNGERANT. VIRG.;

The next two medals are rare items commemorating the opening of two libraries. The first of them was dedicated to the bishop of Kraków, Andrzej Załuski, thanks to whom the Warsaw library was established. The second one was published in 1822 by the Galician States to commemorate the founder of the Lviv library – Józef Ossoliński.