Posted 10 years ago
Militarist
(310 items)
In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Sedan the city of Hersfeld issued an aluminum medal on September 2, 1895. The obverse has an appropriate legend around the city coat of arms. The reverse has a double legend around the surrender scene which roughly translates Napoleon III’s statement as “Since my fate was not to die at the head of my brave troops in battle (which he really tried very hard to do) I lay my sword in your majesty’s hands.” The scene within the double legend depicts a very dejected looking Napoleon III presenting his sword to Prussian King Wilhelm I who would shortly after become Kaiser Wilhelm I. I have never been a fan of Napoleon III but he looks so dejected in the scene depicted on this medal that when I first saw it I actually felt a twinge of sympathy for him.
Nice write-up and interesting medal. I believe aluminum had a better cashet back then. Up to the 1880s, pure aluminum was very expensive - comparable to gold. Then in the 1890s, they figured out how to produce it cheaply. I presume that in 1895, aluminum still had some of it's old reputation as a fancy metal.
Thanks Chrisnp, you know your aluminum history. Back in the 1850's the first aluminum ingot was stored in a bank vault.