Extremely Rare Set of Original Goetz Dies

CNG 109, Lot: 759. Estimate $2000. Sold for $1550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

WORLD, Germany. Weimar Republic. 1919-1933. Steel Hub and Set of Working Dies for AR Medal by Karl Goetz. Banksorge und -freude (Bank Worry and Joy). Dated 1924. Three working dies and one obverse die hub for Goetz’s 1924 satirical medal in silver, Banksorge und -freude (Bank Worry and Joy). All dies steel in format for period and enumerated consistently in white paint on edge . Dies are as follows:

(a) Hub of Obverse (604.90g). Marked 305/3 on edge.

(b) Working Reverse Die (687.20g). Marked 305/4 on edge.

(c) Working Obverse Die (639.00g). Marked 305/6 on edge and 305 on bottom.

(d) Working Reverse Die with Iron Collar (1179.34g). Marked 305/5 and 305 on bottom.

Group also includes an original example of the AR Medal, marked BAYER . HAUPTMÜNZAMT · FEINSILBER on the edge, as well as the larger Æ issue marked K · GOETZ on the edge. Translation of reverse: Whether Dollar, whether Pound, whether Lira, whether Franc, these guys are pretty sick now. You Mark however, stay strong and healthy, else the whole of mankind will go under. May you become the Sun for all, the best currency in the whole wide world. See Kienast 305 (for medals). As made, dies with traces of oxidation and rust typical of their age; AR medal toned; Æ medal with grayish deposits in devices. Extremely rare and of particular numismatic interest.

Ex Leipziger 84 (23 October 2015), lot 950 (for Æ medal).

From the consignor: When the Goetz inventory was sold there were many buyers who wanted a single example of a medal die that might have held some particular interest to them. I felt it was even more interesting to buy a complete set of dies and hubs for a single medal so as to represent the artist's work on a given piece. I chose the Bank Fraud medal for its interesting place in history, coming as Germany tried to recover from the devastating devaluation of their currency following WW I. Adding the medals in this set later, I felt it was a complete representation for this particularly interesting piece. I asked that it be sold as single lot as I doubt few other dies and hubs will ever be reunited now that they have been disbursed.