Sale: Nomos 5, Lot: 9. Estimate CHF1250.  Closing Date: Monday, 24 October 2011.  Sold For CHF1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia. Joachimsthal. Ferdinand I. 1526-1564. Medal (Silver, 42mm, 24.60 g 12), a cast medal from a model by Utz Gebhart (fl. 1518-1532), Zwickau, 1531. DIVI.FRIDRICHVS.3.MAXIMILIANVS.FILI:IMPER:ROMANI. followed by a cross within a crescent (= mark of Utz Gebhart) Jugate busts right of the emperors Friedrich III (1452-1493), crowned and wearing ornate robes, and Maximilian I (1493-1519), wearing cap, robes and Order of the Golden Fleece. Rev. NOBILISS:AC.ILLVSTRISS:DOMVS.AVSTRIACAE.INSIGNIA.ANNO.1.5.3.1. Crowned shield bearing the Hapsburg arms, supported by two putti.. Katz 151a. Lanna 555. Rare. An attractively toned, contemporary cast. Fields very lightly smoothed, otherwise, extremely fine.

Ex Rauch 86, 12 May 2010, 2003.

This medal shows Ferdinand I’s grandfather (Maximilian I) and great-grandfather (Friedrich III) and was made as propaganda for Ferdinand’s selection as king of the Romans in 1530 (he succeeded his brother Charles V who had the title from 1519). This medal emphasizes Ferdinand’s lineage and his obvious legitimacy.