Biggest medal I've got

[akeady]

At 82mm and 253g, this challenges my Aes Grave As.

Pius IX - marking the restoration of St. Paul's Outside the Walls after a destructive fire.

I may have brightened up the photographs slightly - a Google Photos auto adjust.   It's maybe a bit darker in reality.

I visited this church in 2015 - this bad photo' is more or less the scene Bianchi captured.

I really like this medal.

ATB,
Aidan.

Edited October 17, 2024 by akeady

[CPK]

 Hard to believe that reverse is a flat surface! A beautiful medal!

[akeady]

12 minutes ago, CPK said:

 Hard to believe that reverse is a flat surface! A beautiful medal!

It's a thick medal, so there is some depth to it.   I have a few of his other architectural types in a more normal size (about 44mm), but this is the first big one I've got - it's a fairly amazing job.

[ominus1]

...grade A large...and very artistic...heavy on perspective....:)

[Sulla80]

That is stunning! here's a favorite - I don't collect medals but the perspective on this one grabbed my attention.

Papal States, Leon XII, 1823-1829, Bronze Medal, 1825, commemorative issue of Santa Maria in Trastevere Church
Size: 66.35g, 51mm
Ref: Bertuzzi 52, Patrignani 35

Obv: BASILIC S PAVLI EX INCENDIO XV IVL MDCCCXXII GIROMETTI FEC
Rev: SVBSTITVTA A LEONE XII PONT. MA, S. MARIA TRANS TIBER IN EA SACR. RITVS IMPLEVIT PRO IVBILEO A. MDCCCV CARD. EPISC: PORTVENSIS BARTHOLOMEVS PACCA
Notes: This medal was issued after the fire on June 15, 1823, that destroyed the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls by G. Girometti was issued in 1825 with an image of the ruins of the church.

Edited October 18, 2024 by Sulla80

[akeady]

3 hours ago, Sulla80 said:

That is stunning! here's a favorite - I don't collect medals but the perspective on this one grabbed my attention.

Papal States, Leon XII, 1823-1829, Bronze Medal, 1825, commemorative issue of Santa Maria in Trastevere Church
Size: 66.35g, 51mm
Ref: Bertuzzi 52, Patrignani 35

Obv: BASILIC S PAVLI EX INCENDIO XV IVL MDCCCXXII GIROMETTI FEC
Rev: SVBSTITVTA A LEONE XII PONT. MA, S. MARIA TRANS TIBER IN EA SACR. RITVS IMPLEVIT PRO IVBILEO A. MDCCCV CARD. EPISC: PORTVENSIS BARTHOLOMEVS PACCA
Notes: This medal was issued after the fire on June 15, 1823, that destroyed the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls by G. Girometti was issued in 1825 with an image of the ruins of the church.

Ah, yes  - I need that medal for "Before and after" views 😄

ATB,
Aidan.

[AspisAiantos]

What a specimen! I love the detail on this medal in particular. I bet the weight of it is pretty satisfying as well.

[akeady]

On 10/18/2024 at 10:42 PM, Sulla80 said:

That is stunning! here's a favorite - I don't collect medals but the perspective on this one grabbed my attention.

Papal States, Leon XII, 1823-1829, Bronze Medal, 1825, commemorative issue of Santa Maria in Trastevere Church
Size: 66.35g, 51mm
Ref: Bertuzzi 52, Patrignani 35

Obv: BASILIC S PAVLI EX INCENDIO XV IVL MDCCCXXII GIROMETTI FEC
Rev: SVBSTITVTA A LEONE XII PONT. MA, S. MARIA TRANS TIBER IN EA SACR. RITVS IMPLEVIT PRO IVBILEO A. MDCCCV CARD. EPISC: PORTVENSIS BARTHOLOMEVS PACCA
Notes: This medal was issued after the fire on June 15, 1823, that destroyed the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls by G. Girometti was issued in 1825 with an image of the ruins of the church.

I picked up a version of that which arrived last week.   It's a lot smaller than the restored one - at 63.9g and 51mm diameter.

I presume it uses the same die for the reverse as yours - the reverse is cruder in mine, probably more die wear/rust as it was a later issue as Pius IX was only pope from 1846, while yours was minted in 1825 (the large medal of the restored basilica is from 1854).   I doubt there were multiple dies for these as not so many were minted.

I got a couple of other medals too.   I need to return to Rome 😄

ATB,
Aidan.

Edited November 25, 2024 by akeady

[DonnaML]

I love the three-dimensional illusion created by those interior views on large medals. 

Here's my largest medal, at 140 mm. It shows Napoleon with his second wife, the Empress Marie-Louise (1791-1847), daughter of Franz II of Austria. He married her by proxy on 11 March 1810 in Vienna; their civil marriage took place in Compiègne, France on 1 April, 1810, and the religious ceremony was held the next day, 2 April, 1810, in a chapel in the Louvre:

France, Bronzed PB (Lead) Uniface Cliché Medallion, Napoleon Bonaparte and Marie-Louise, First Empire, 1810, by Bertrand Andrieu. Obv. Conjoined busts left, in high relief, of Napoleon, laureate, and Marie-Louise, diademed; on truncation of Napoleon’s bust, signed ANDRIEU FECIT • / Rev. Uniface (with remnants of original early-19^th century paper label with handwritten name “David Davies”). 140 mm., 808 g. (28.5 oz.). Trésor Numismatique 42.1 p. 87, ill. Planche XLII No. 1 (140 mm., assigning date 31 Dec. 1810 to medal) [Paul Delaroche, Henriquel Dupont & Charles Lenormant, eds., Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique, Vol. 18, Collection de Médailles de L’Empire Français et de L’Empereur Napoleon (1840), available at gallica.bnf.fr]; Bramsen II 1001 p. 12 (citing Trésor Numismatique 42.1 but giving diameter as 125 mm.) [Ludvig Ernst Bramsen, Médaillier Napoléon le Grand, ou, Description des médailles, clichés, repoussés, et médailles-décorations relatives aux affaires de la France pendant le consulat et l'empire, Vol. II, 1810-1815 (Copenhagen 1907), available at Newman Numismatic Portal];  d’Essling 1300 p. 115 (not illustrated, described as 133 mm.) [Feuardent Frères et Jules Florange, Importante Collection de Monnaies et Médailles, Napoléon I, etc., Appartenant au Prince d’Essling (Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Jun 1927) (Two Vols., 68 Plates)]; Benjamin Weiss Collection BW 376 (see photo & description at http://www.historicalartmedals.com/MEDAL%20WEB%20ENTRIES/FRANCE/NAPOLEONIC%20MEDALS/ANDRIEU-MARRIAGE%20OF%20NAPOLEON%20TO%20MARIE%20LOUISE-BW376%20HIGH.htm ); Jean Babelon & Jean Roubier, Portraits en Médailles (Paris 1946), ill. Planche xxxix (140 mm.); cf. Julius 2336 p. 142 & Pl. 36 (described as Gilded bronze; 154 mm. with brass frame) [Sammlung Dr. [Paul] Julius, Heidelberg: Französische Revolution Napoleon I. und seine Zeit : Medaillen, Orden und Ehrenzeichen, Münzen (Auktion 11 Jan. 1932, Otto Helbing Nachf., München, Auktions-Katalog 66), available at Newman Numismatic Portal].  Purchased 18 April 2023 from Strack’s Antiques (Milwaukee Auction House LLC), Hales Corners, WI.

 

Detail showing Andrieu's signature:

The reverse, showing the remnants of the glued paper label (the small descriptive label is the seller's; its 1812 date is not consistent with the reference works I consulted). I wish more of the original label had been preserved or that I could read anything of what's left other than the name David Davies.

On display, with its glass dome removed:

[akeady]

1 hour ago, DonnaML said:

I love the three-dimensional illusion created by those interior views on large medals. 

Here's my largest medal, at 140 mm. It shows Napoleon with his second wife, the Empress Marie-Louise (1791-1847), daughter of Franz II of Austria. He married her by proxy on 11 March 1810 in Vienna; their civil marriage took place in Compiègne, France on 1 April, 1810, and the religious ceremony was held the next day, 2 April, 1810, in a chapel in the Louvre:

France, Bronzed PB (Lead) Uniface Cliché Medallion, Napoleon Bonaparte and Marie-Louise, First Empire, 1810, by Bertrand Andrieu. Obv. Conjoined busts left, in high relief, of Napoleon, laureate, and Marie-Louise, diademed; on truncation of Napoleon’s bust, signed ANDRIEU FECIT • / Rev. Uniface (with remnants of original early-19^th century paper label with handwritten name “David Davies”). 140 mm., 808 g. (28.5 oz.). Trésor Numismatique 42.1 p. 87, ill. Planche XLII No. 1 (140 mm., assigning date 31 Dec. 1810 to medal) [Paul Delaroche, Henriquel Dupont & Charles Lenormant, eds., Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique, Vol. 18, Collection de Médailles de L’Empire Français et de L’Empereur Napoleon (1840), available at gallica.bnf.fr]; Bramsen II 1001 p. 12 (citing Trésor Numismatique 42.1 but giving diameter as 125 mm.) [Ludvig Ernst Bramsen, Médaillier Napoléon le Grand, ou, Description des médailles, clichés, repoussés, et médailles-décorations relatives aux affaires de la France pendant le consulat et l'empire, Vol. II, 1810-1815 (Copenhagen 1907), available at Newman Numismatic Portal];  d’Essling 1300 p. 115 (not illustrated, described as 133 mm.) [Feuardent Frères et Jules Florange, Importante Collection de Monnaies et Médailles, Napoléon I, etc., Appartenant au Prince d’Essling (Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Jun 1927) (Two Vols., 68 Plates)]; Benjamin Weiss Collection BW 376 (see photo & description at http://www.historicalartmedals.com/MEDAL%20WEB%20ENTRIES/FRANCE/NAPOLEONIC%20MEDALS/ANDRIEU-MARRIAGE%20OF%20NAPOLEON%20TO%20MARIE%20LOUISE-BW376%20HIGH.htm ); Jean Babelon & Jean Roubier, Portraits en Médailles (Paris 1946), ill. Planche xxxix (140 mm.); cf. Julius 2336 p. 142 & Pl. 36 (described as Gilded bronze; 154 mm. with brass frame) [Sammlung Dr. [Paul] Julius, Heidelberg: Französische Revolution Napoleon I. und seine Zeit : Medaillen, Orden und Ehrenzeichen, Münzen (Auktion 11 Jan. 1932, Otto Helbing Nachf., München, Auktions-Katalog 66), available at Newman Numismatic Portal].  Purchased 18 April 2023 from Strack’s Antiques (Milwaukee Auction House LLC), Hales Corners, WI.

 

Detail showing Andrieu's signature:

The reverse, showing the remnants of the glued paper label (the small descriptive label is the seller's; its 1812 date is not consistent with the reference works I consulted). I wish more of the original label had been preserved or that I could read anything of what's left other than the name David Davies.

On display, with its glass dome removed:

A monster 😄   I like it!

ATB,
Aidan.

[Lelouch]

My largest medal which I recently acquired at Heritage Europe - Auction 84 - Lot 7341 is 86.6 mm of Copper. Made in 1969 by Raymond Delamarre, and issued by the Monnaie de Paris.
I swear, I really only saw and bought it because it had an octopus, but it is nice.

Also, I am not sure if it breaks any rules, if so feel free to remove.

Obverse: Mermaid splayed out over waves, ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ to the top right
Reverse: Nude female figure diving right, fish facing right, seahorse facing left, fish facing forward in left field; Nude female figure surfing left, birds around in top field; Boat sailing left, birds flying left in right field; Starfish, lobster and octopus in reef in exergue

[ChrisB]

My largest medal. I have several versions of Pistrucci's Waterloo medal. This circa 1861 electrotype is the largest.

 

 

Commemorating the great victory of the Quadruple Alliance over Napoleon in 1815 (132mm, 680.90 g, 12h). By B. Pistrucci and produced by 'Mr. Johnson of Alexandra Terrace, Bayswater.' 

Conjoined laureate and draped busts left of the allied sovereigns: George III, King of Great Britain, Franz II, Emperor of Austria, Alexander I, Tsar of Russia, and Wilhelm III, King of Prussia; around, allegorical and mythological allusions to the Treaty of Peace, which resulted from the Battle of Waterloo: above, Apollo driving quadriga left, restoring the day; to upper right, the rainbow Zephyr and Iris following to right; to upper left, Gemini indicating the month in which the battle occurred; to right, Hercules seated right upon rock, suppressing the Furies within the Cimmerian caverns below; to left, Themis, the protector of the Just, seated left; to lower left, the Fates spinning the future, indicating that human actions will be governed by Justice alone; below, Night, the mother of the Fates, receding into darkness // Two equestrian figures, in classical attire and with the features of the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard von Blücher, being guided to the battle by Victory; around, the Battle of the Giants, being silenced from above by the thunder of Jupiter, driving facing quadriga. Edge: Seam as made. 

BHM 870; Eimer 1067a; Bramsen 2317; Julius 3368. Essentially as Made. Light brassy-brown surfaces, with some slightly darker hues around the devices. A great example of this majestic issue, and a rarer version existing as a single piece rather than as two halves. 

Ex David Nicholas Silich Collection.