1459) The mystery of the Gold Medal which has not been minted by the Vatican, as confirmed by the Vatican Philatelic & Numismatic Division:
In the first week of July 2020, I received the undernoted images of a Coin/Medal from one of my Twitter friends, who said that this medal was collected by his father and has now come to his possession.
He added that he had searched all over the Internet and could not find any details regarding the mint of its origin, specifications etc.
Intrigued, I searched all over my usual websites to find information about this coin, but my friend was right. There was simply no information regarding this Coin/Medal.
Prima facie this medal looks like a Vatican issue, so I checked up on the Vatican website but only came up blank.
Then, I thought, why not go to the source/possible origin of this medal for the details, so I wrote to the Vatican directly and promptly got back the email address of the Governor of the Vatican Mint, with whom I could take up the matter and in case of any difficulty, write to the Vatican itself.
I wrote to the Office of the Governatorato, Ufficio Filatelico Numismatico Vaticano (Office of the Governor, Philatelic and Numismatic Division, The Vatican) of the Vatican as under:
"I am a blogger on the subjects of International Philately & Numismatics, with a few posts on the Vatican related products as well.
One of my numismatist friends has a Vatican Gold Coin in his collection, which has a dove & open book on one face with the inscription -"UBI. SPIRUTUS. IBI. LIBERTAS".
On the other face is an image of St. George slaying the dragon. The inscription is "OPEREMUR BONUM AD OMNES II CONCILIUM DECUMENICUM VATICUNUM".
I am enclosing the Obverse & Reverse images of this coin for your kind reference.
I would be obliged if you could kindly, let me know the year of issue of this coin, specifications and meaning/significance of the event it honours and any other relevant information thereto."
I half did not expect any response from the Vatican Numismatic Office, but after a few days came the following response, inter alia, mentioning:
"With reference to your request about the item showed in the pictures you sent us, we can tell you, that it is a private edition medal and not a coin.
We do not know who made it, but it was not made by our office. We even might not say that it is an official issue. Thank you for contacting us".
This message has left me completely intrigued.. If the Vatican did not mint it, then who did?
As Sherlock Holmes would say - "The Game is afoot!!!"
It is indeed. I am putting up the images of the medal on this post, in the hope that one day we will be able to find the answers as to its mysterious origins.
The Medal:
On the outer periphery is the inscription is "UBI. SPIRUTUS. IBI. LIBERTAS" (meaning "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom")".
This inscription is also, used on his official blazon by Reinhard Marx, the Auxiliary bishop of Paderborn (1996-2001), Titular Bishop of Petina, Bishop of Trier (2001-2007, Archbishop of Munchen-Freising (2008 onwards).
On the other face of the Gold Medal is an open book over which a dove is flying (signifying world peace).
On the outer periphery is the Latin inscription: "OPEREMUR BONUM AD OMNES II CONCILIUM DECUMENICUM VATICUNUM" (meaning "Do Good For All. II Ecclesiastical Council of the Vatican").
On the outer periphery is the Latin inscription: "OPEREMUR BONUM AD OMNES II CONCILIUM DECUMENICUM VATICUNUM" (meaning "Do Good For All. II Ecclesiastical Council of the Vatican").
Meanwhile, my friend had the medal assayed by a gold seller, who has mentioned that the weight of this Gold medal is 11.96 grams and its Metal Composition is ".900 Fineness Gold (Au).
Posted on 30.01.2021:
Today, I received a comment from MP Czech as under:
"I have the same medal. It has a mark - R. Signorini at the edge and in frames - "900" and "I AR" (Probably Hallmark). Since the year 2000 I was looking for the origin. On the Internet before cca 4 years I have found 100% the same medal, but the weight was 24g/0.8 ounce. Someone was selling it for cca 1800 Euro."
I searched for R. Signorini. Here is what I found as under:
Renato Signorini was known for his sculpted heads in silver, vermeil, glazed or gilded bronze and occasionally gold, portraying popes, monarchs and actresses. Generally the portraits were small half-length busts, depicting the subject in a front head pose gazing distantly, with simple neat details, as inspired by Tuscan portraiture, or they were carved in bas-relief on medals and medallions.
Renato was living in Rome and designed several medals/coins for the Vatican.
Possible origins of the Gold medal:
The city of "Arles" in France was earlier named "Arelate" during the time of Roman occupation and reached its apogee in the fourth century BC under Constantine I, who established a mint here in 313 AD to produce coins to pay salaries to the civil servants and soldiers who accompanied him in his long stays in the city.
The mint was staffed by personnel from Ostia. Its earlier mint mark was "ARL", which was shortened to "AR" later on, when the name of the city was shortened to "Arles" after its original name.
Upon taking up this information with Farshad, he readily agreed that his father was posted in Arles, France and could have procured the medal there.
So having established the medal's possible origins, now the only thing that remains in this international numismatic search is "why this medal was minted"?
The medal images have been sent by Farshad Hashemi. Post written by Rajeev Prasad)
7) Michelangelo's "Pieta", Vatican City: New Copper Coin Series titled "Art and Faithy": A 10 Euro Copper Coin minted by the "Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca Dello Stato" (IPZS) on behalf of the "Ufficio Filatelico e Numismatico Governatorato della Cotta del Vaticano": Coin issue date: 05.03.2020
8) Ancient Postal Routes, Vatican City State: EUROPA 2020 Theme: Two stamps of 1.10 Euro and 1.15 Euro issued by the Ufficio filatelico e Numismatico -Governatorato, Vaticano featuring ancient postal routes emanating from the Vatican City State during the 6th & 11th Centuries AD
For some other interesting posts from Italy/The Vatican, please visit the following links:
7) Michelangelo's "Pieta", Vatican City: New Copper Coin Series titled "Art and Faithy": A 10 Euro Copper Coin minted by the "Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca Dello Stato" (IPZS) on behalf of the "Ufficio Filatelico e Numismatico Governatorato della Cotta del Vaticano": Coin issue date: 05.03.2020
8) Ancient Postal Routes, Vatican City State: EUROPA 2020 Theme: Two stamps of 1.10 Euro and 1.15 Euro issued by the Ufficio filatelico e Numismatico -Governatorato, Vaticano featuring ancient postal routes emanating from the Vatican City State during the 6th & 11th Centuries AD
Santosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Gr8 efforts. Keep it up!"
Thank you, Khanna sahab.
DeleteRajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"I am sure your efforts will yield results one day 👍"
It looks like an issue from Germany, but it is still a hunch. 😀
DeleteRajan Trikha has further commented:
Delete"Looking forward for your more revealings."
Ashok Borate has commented:
Delete"त्रिखा साहब ठीक लिख रहे है"
Joseph Pallatt has commented:
ReplyDelete"St George is the patron saint of England and a few other countries. That angle could be probed?"
"Gold sovereigns have been minted by the Royal Mint UK while the first silver sovereign coin has been minted by the London Office Mint. Both mint only coins and I am nor aware of medals. Also it looks like a private issue, as the St George image is not very common."
DeleteJoseph Pallatt has further commented:
Delete"There are other organisations like the Knights of Malta but if there is no inscription on the medal, it may be difficult to trace it to its source. Your FB devoted to this may be able to offer a clue."
It was probably minted, by a private mint. to commemorate the Pope's visit somewhere. The Vatican too has promised to help us out.
ReplyDeleteVinod Khurana has commented:
ReplyDelete"Lot of efforts done by and I am sure you'll find the answer. All the best."
Thank you, Vinodji.
DeleteShyam Sunder Shanker Naidu has commented:
ReplyDelete"Really interesting and I am sure you will yield results soon."·
I have sent this link to my numismatic friends particularly in Europe, as well as, three private mints. My friend has retweeted this in western European states. Let's see if anything emerges.
DeleteRaj Kumar Srivastava has commented:
ReplyDelete"Sherlock had said mystery was why the dog had not barked at night!✔️😊"
Very true,Raj. We are hunting for the dog - in this case the Mint which minted it. (:-)
DeleteI also inherited one of these. Now I at least have a little bit of information regarding its origin. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting the blog. We are still searching for some clues.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI have the same medal
It's has mark - R. Signorini at the edge
and in frames - "900" and "I AR" (Probably Hallmark)
Since Year 2000 I was looking for Origin.
On Internet Before cca 4 years i've found
100% same medal, but the weight was 24g/0,8 ounce.
Someone was selling it for cca 1800 EUR
Have a good day
MP.
Thank you so much for sharing this information. Hopefully, we shall get to the bottom of its origins and purpose.
DeleteSantosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Great efforts by you Rajeev. Keep it up 🙏"
Thank you so much, Khanna sahab.
DeleteAshok Borate has commented:
ReplyDelete"Really very great efforts👍"
Thank you so much, Ashokji.
DeleteLalit Roy has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very nice Rajeev. A little bit of mystery adds to the flavour. Very interesting."
Thank you so much, Lalit. This post actually built up into a "Global Numismatic Hunt", with several people offering suggestions. We had to sift through some "superfluous" information. Now waiting for someone to inform us as to the significance of this medal. 🙂
Delete