Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Austria, Austro-Hungarian Empire. Franz Joseph I (1848-1916) AV Medal (4 Ducats). Vienna mint(?), 1888. Struck to commemorate the emperor's 40th jubilee and 5th Lower Austria federal shooting competition in Vienna. Design by F. Leisek. FRANZ JOSEPH I. KAISER V. OESTERREICH ETC., bare-headed and draped bust right wearing imperial chain and medals; F. LEISEK under nearest shoulder / KAISER JUBILÄUMS-U•V•N•Ö• LANDESCHIESSEN 1848/88, *WIENER SCHÜTZENVEREIN*, crowned double headed eagle with Vienna crest on chest. Hauser, J. Die Münzen und Medaillen der Haupt- und Residenzstadt München, (Munich, 1905), #5146; Peltzer 1938. 13.92g, 36mm, 12h.
Mint State; slight wave, minor edge marks, otherwise remarkable proof-like condition with mirror-lustre. Extremely Rare; one of only 4 examples offered at auction in the past 20 years.
Acquired from Heidelberger Münzhandlung Herbert Grün eK.
The fourth longest reigning monarch in European history, and longest reigning Emperor of Austria (1848–1916) and King of Hungary (1867–1916) by far, Franz Joseph I presided over the closing years of the mighty Habsburg Empire, before its dissolution in November 1918. The medal depicts the expertly carved bust of a ruler known for his tight grip on imperial power: Franz Joseph's personal control over his realms instituted a period termed 'neo-absolutism' which preceded the division of his empire into the "imperial and royal Dual Monarchy" of equal lands, Austria and Hungary (1867).
"What you have suffered as a man, O Lord/Your people have suffered with you...", wrote poet Ferdinand von Saar, alluding to the personal tragedies which plagued the emperor's later years ("Unserem Kaiser," in Kaiserblatt, p.4). 1867 saw the execution of his brother, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, while in the years following the production of this medal, his son Rudolf took his own life (1889), his wife Empress Elizabeth was stabbed by an Italian anarchist during his jubilee (1898) and finally his nephew, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was shot (1914), precipitating the start of the First World War. These personal losses generated great sympathy for the ill-fated ruler.
The fifth Lower Austria federal shooting competition, which occasioned the production of this splendid medal, exemplified the type of association prevalent in towns of the imperial realm at this time. Municipal shooting unions were formed, whose members were generally members of the elite, gathering to compete in distinguished shooting contests every year. These important fixtures of social life were commemorated with valuable rewards for participants and winners, including wrist watches, tea sets and medals like this extremely rare example. During a federal shooting competition in Brno held four years after this medal was produced, the emperor himself stayed for the duration of the competition; to celebrate Franz Joseph's visit and the conclusion of the contest, various medals in gold, silver, bronze and brass, were awarded to the winning participants, like a 25 Ducats gold medal (Hauser 730; Unger 2834).
This lustrous medal also commemorates one in a series of extravagant and large-scale jubilees, celebrations which gave expression to the official imperial motto, "viribus unitis" (with united powers). Earlier dynastic occasions were more modest, like the silver wedding anniversary of 1879 which was sponsored by the liberal municipal government of Vienna, rather than by the court itself (M. Brandow-Faller, 'Folk Art on Parade: Modernism, Primitivism and Nationalism at the 1908 Kaiserhuldigungsfestzug', 2017, p.100). Yet such events grew in scale: D. Holmes and F. Krobb even credit Habsburg festivities with being an enduring reference point in modern Austrian celebrations (Holmes and Krobb, 'Scrutinizing Festkultur: The Culture and Politics of Celebration in Austria', 2017, p.20). The Golden Jubilee of 1898, for instance, used grand ceremonial fixtures like the Corpus Christi procession in Vienna to evoke a sense of dynastic unity with a sanctified Habsburg rule. This helped to smooth over the real and divisive atmosphere of the recent Badeni political crisis, which had seen the prime minister forced to resign amidst nationalist hostilities (J. Shedel, 'Emperor, Church, and People: Religion and Dynastic Loyalty during the Golden Jubilee of Franz Joseph', 1990, pp.77-79). The 50th jubilee festivities ended up being disrupted by the assassination of the empress, but they were outshone by the 60th jubilee (1908): in the Kaiserhuldigungsfestzug (Imperial Jubilee Parade), 12,000 performers representing the different peoples of the realm enacted historical events and ethnographic customs (Brandow-Faller, 2017, p.98). Though critics like Karl Kraus characterised the celebrations as a "Triumphzug der Kriecherei" (triumphal parade of sycophancy; 'Der Festzug', Die Fackel, 10.157 (5 June 1908), p. 1), these elaborate spectacles had a deep impression on many observers, making manifest the expansive power of the ruler depicted on this medal.
Mint State; slight wave, minor edge marks, otherwise remarkable proof-like condition with mirror-lustre. Extremely Rare; one of only 4 examples offered at auction in the past 20 years.
Acquired from Heidelberger Münzhandlung Herbert Grün eK.
The fourth longest reigning monarch in European history, and longest reigning Emperor of Austria (1848–1916) and King of Hungary (1867–1916) by far, Franz Joseph I presided over the closing years of the mighty Habsburg Empire, before its dissolution in November 1918. The medal depicts the expertly carved bust of a ruler known for his tight grip on imperial power: Franz Joseph's personal control over his realms instituted a period termed 'neo-absolutism' which preceded the division of his empire into the "imperial and royal Dual Monarchy" of equal lands, Austria and Hungary (1867).
"What you have suffered as a man, O Lord/Your people have suffered with you...", wrote poet Ferdinand von Saar, alluding to the personal tragedies which plagued the emperor's later years ("Unserem Kaiser," in Kaiserblatt, p.4). 1867 saw the execution of his brother, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, while in the years following the production of this medal, his son Rudolf took his own life (1889), his wife Empress Elizabeth was stabbed by an Italian anarchist during his jubilee (1898) and finally his nephew, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was shot (1914), precipitating the start of the First World War. These personal losses generated great sympathy for the ill-fated ruler.
The fifth Lower Austria federal shooting competition, which occasioned the production of this splendid medal, exemplified the type of association prevalent in towns of the imperial realm at this time. Municipal shooting unions were formed, whose members were generally members of the elite, gathering to compete in distinguished shooting contests every year. These important fixtures of social life were commemorated with valuable rewards for participants and winners, including wrist watches, tea sets and medals like this extremely rare example. During a federal shooting competition in Brno held four years after this medal was produced, the emperor himself stayed for the duration of the competition; to celebrate Franz Joseph's visit and the conclusion of the contest, various medals in gold, silver, bronze and brass, were awarded to the winning participants, like a 25 Ducats gold medal (Hauser 730; Unger 2834).
This lustrous medal also commemorates one in a series of extravagant and large-scale jubilees, celebrations which gave expression to the official imperial motto, "viribus unitis" (with united powers). Earlier dynastic occasions were more modest, like the silver wedding anniversary of 1879 which was sponsored by the liberal municipal government of Vienna, rather than by the court itself (M. Brandow-Faller, 'Folk Art on Parade: Modernism, Primitivism and Nationalism at the 1908 Kaiserhuldigungsfestzug', 2017, p.100). Yet such events grew in scale: D. Holmes and F. Krobb even credit Habsburg festivities with being an enduring reference point in modern Austrian celebrations (Holmes and Krobb, 'Scrutinizing Festkultur: The Culture and Politics of Celebration in Austria', 2017, p.20). The Golden Jubilee of 1898, for instance, used grand ceremonial fixtures like the Corpus Christi procession in Vienna to evoke a sense of dynastic unity with a sanctified Habsburg rule. This helped to smooth over the real and divisive atmosphere of the recent Badeni political crisis, which had seen the prime minister forced to resign amidst nationalist hostilities (J. Shedel, 'Emperor, Church, and People: Religion and Dynastic Loyalty during the Golden Jubilee of Franz Joseph', 1990, pp.77-79). The 50th jubilee festivities ended up being disrupted by the assassination of the empress, but they were outshone by the 60th jubilee (1908): in the Kaiserhuldigungsfestzug (Imperial Jubilee Parade), 12,000 performers representing the different peoples of the realm enacted historical events and ethnographic customs (Brandow-Faller, 2017, p.98). Though critics like Karl Kraus characterised the celebrations as a "Triumphzug der Kriecherei" (triumphal parade of sycophancy; 'Der Festzug', Die Fackel, 10.157 (5 June 1908), p. 1), these elaborate spectacles had a deep impression on many observers, making manifest the expansive power of the ruler depicted on this medal.