Post on 27-Jun-2018
The Emperor’s Gold
EN
24 MAY 2016 TO 5 MARCH 2017
The great fame that the imperial coin collec-
tion already enjoyed throughout Europe
around 1800 derived from its size and quality
as well as from the rarity of the objects it
contained. It was the collecting passion of the
Emperors Charles VI (r. 1711−1740) and Francis
I (r. 1745−1765), which already fascinated con-
temporaries, and to which the Vienna Coin
Collection owes its world-class status today.
On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the
Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Vienna Coin
Collection presents a special exhibition of the
most precious gold pieces from its once-im-
perial treasures.
The gamut ranges from gold coins in every-
day circulation through multiples, true gold
giants, and singular commemorative issues.
Many of the imprints on display were honor-
ific gifts to the emperor or were targeted ac-
quisitions for the imperial collection. Antique
treasure troves also played an important role
in the expansion and enrichment of the impe-
rial coin collection. The spectacular find at
Szilágysomlyó in Transylvania, for instance,
contained the heaviest gold medallions from
antiquity ever discovered.
FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE MODERN PERIOD
THE EMPEROR’S GOLD
The so-called »magnificent« medals (Prunk
medaillen) represent a highlight of the exhib-
ition. These were produced in only a few ex-
emplars and presented as precious gifts to im-
portant personages. Due to their enormous
sizes, they offer images with a richness of de-
tail that is otherwise unknown. Today their
exclusive value lies not only in their precious
metal content and artistic quality, but also in
their singular provenance.
In addition to its purely representative func-
tion, the Vienna Coin Collection was also the
birthplace of numismatics as a modern schol-
arly discipline during the Eighteenth Centu-
ry. The custodians of the imperial coin collec-
tion penned the first printed coin catalogues.
They were concerned with the organization
of antique and modern coins, and developed
systems that still remain relevant today.
ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT COIN
THE BIRTHPLACE OF NUMISMATICS
When Charlemagne was crowned emperor in
Rome in 800, gold coins had nearly vanished
from the European mints, and silver pennies
dominated the currency in circulation. The
golden solidi of Emperor Louis the Pious
(r. 814–840), who thereby sought to empha-
size his special position and status equivalent
with the emperor of Byzantium, were an ex-
ception: He had claimed the hereditary priv-
ilege of issuing gold coinage. The Islamic sov-
ereigns also continued to mint gold coins.
The minting of gold coins in the Latin West
only recommenced in 1231 with the augusta
lis of Hohenstaufen Emperor Friedrich II
(r. 1212–1250). These were followed in 1252 by
the gold florins of the city of Florence, and
in 1284 by the ducats of the doge of Venice,
both of which made history as global curren-
cies. They were surpassed in weight by the
French masse d’or, which was first issued by
Philip IV the Fair (r. 1285–1314) in double
ducat weight. The quadruple gold florin of
Salzburg Archbishop Pilgrim II (r. 1365–1396)
represents a particular rarity – it is the
heaviest gold coin from the medieval period.
Only around the end of the fifteenth century
were still-heavier gold coins produced for
representational purposes. Among these are
a seven-ducat piece from Galeazzo Maria
Sforza (r. 1466–1476), Duke of Milan, a twenty-
I. MEDIEVAL GOLD
Archbishop Pilgrim II
(r. 1365–1396)
Salzburg: 4 florins (14.29 g)
ducat from Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella
of Castile (r. 1479–1516), and one of twenty-five
ducats issued by Maximilian I (r. 1486–1519)
on his assumption of the title of emperor; the
last two pieces come from the collection of
Emperor Francis I.
Maximilian I (r. 1486–1519)
Antwerp: 25 ducats (86.71 g),
1509
II. THE DUCAT AND ITS MULTIPLES
The ducat, the official gold coin of the Holy
Roman Empire with a weight of 3.49 grams
and a precious metal content of 23½ carats,
was also struck in multiple pieces, so-called
multipla. While most individuals never came
in contact with these coins in everyday life,
ten-ducat pieces played an important role in
long-distance trade and for the payment of
large sums. The minting of multiple pieces was
also a feature of modern princely honour,
although such prestige issues generally cost
their sovereigns more than they yielded. Few
rulers thus had coins in excess of 10-ducats
produced.
Representational coins with weights of thirty,
fifty, or even one hundred ducats were hence
rare and precious. Like the unusually shaped
Transylvanian coins, they served as gifts to
strengthen diplomatic ties at the highest levels.
Principality of Transylvania
Michael Apafi (r. 1661–1690)
100 ducats (346.72 g), 1677
Major gold deposits were mined in Bohemia
and Transylvania. The respective sovereigns
used this advantage to mint impressive coins.
Michael I Apafi was considered richest in gold
of all the Transylvanian princes. On his hun-
dred-ducat gold piece, however, he showed
himself sceptical of his wealth. The banner
around his portrait reads: »The glitter of all
this world’s golden treasures brings me no joy,
I fear that all this impairs my salvation.« This
Apafi piece was a gift to Emperor Leopold I.
House of Austria, Leopold I.
(r. 1658–1705): Cluj-Napoca:
10 ducats (34.19 g), star-
shaped klippe, 1694
House of Austria, Leopold I.
(r. 1658–1705): Cluj-Napoca:
10 ducats (34.77 g), crescent-
shaped klippe, 1694
III. EUROPEAN »MAGNIFIC ENT« MEDALS
Early medals primarily served the cult of per-
sonality. They passed through the hands of
contemporaries during the lifetime of the per-
sons depicted, while after their death they
preserved his or her memory. Because ev-
er-broader circles gradually employed the me-
dium, the importance of prominent recipients
could only be demonstrated through the pro-
duction of »magnificent« medals (Prunk
medaillen). These had precedents in the pre-
cious, wearable medals given as gifts, which
were also self-confidently displayed by their
owners.
Though the »magnificent« medals were sim-
ilar to other medals in their imagery, they dif-
fered significantly through their uncommon
size, substantial weight, and lavish use of pre-
cious metals. They were usually produced in
only a few exemplars, sometimes only as sin-
gle pieces, and dedicated to the sovereign or
other important personalities. The collections
that preserve large numbers of these pieces
are consequently limited to those of mon-
archs. The Vienna Coin Collection preserves
a unique collection, assembled over more
than five centuries.
Landgraviate of Hessen-
Darmstadt
Louis VIII (r. 1739–1768)
Medal on the Meeting of
Emperor Francis I with
Landgrave Louis VIII
Anton Schaeffer (1722–1799)
1764
100 ducats (348.97 g)
IV. »MAGNIFI-CENT« MEDALS FROM THE EMPEROR’S COLLECTION
The »Kaiser picture,« today in the main stair
hall of Vienna’s Natural History Museum,
shows Emperor Francis I in the first show-
room of his natural history cabinet in the Au-
gustinian Corridor of the Vienna Hofburg.
The First Imperial Physician Gerhard van
Swieten is depicted to his right. Jean de Bail-
lou, the director of the private natural histo-
ry cabinet, can be seen in the background.
One recognizes Abbé Johann Marcy, who
became director of the »physical cabinet« fol-
lowing the emperor’s death, in the right half
of the picture. Valentin Jameray Duval, who
in 1748 was summoned by the Emperor from
Florence to Vienna and trusted with the ex-
pansion of his coin collection, stands behind
the pietra dura table. He holds a drawer with
golden medals, our piece probably among
them. Collecting activities reached their apex
under Duval.
Francis I surrounded by the
directors of his collections
Franz Messmer/Moesmer
(portraits) and Jakob Kohl,
possibly begun by Martin van
Meytens the Younger
Completed in 1773
© Natural History Museum,
Vienna
Kingdom of Poland,
Sigismund III Vasa
(r. 1587–1632)
Capture of Smolensk by
Sigismund III
Unknown artist (Goldsmith
or plaquette artist, active
in Southern Germany or
Bohemia?)
1611, Cast, 315 ducats
(1104.46 g)
The important series of »magnificent« med-
als dedicated to individual monarchs is a no-
table feature of the Vienna collection. The
long reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I in par-
ticular offered repeated occasions for such ob-
jects, several of which were commissioned by
the city of Vienna. These include the medal
created in 1898 on the fiftieth anniversary of
his accession to the throne, which was given
to the emperor during a pageant. The 65.000
children who participated were adorned with
medals. The official tribute medal of the city
of Vienna, created ten years later for the six-
ty-year anniversary, is the youngest »magnifi-
cent« medal in the Vienna collection. This
was presented to the emperor by a delegation
from the Vienna city council led by Mayor
Karl Lueger.
Tribute medal from the city
of Vienna on the golden
jubilee of accession
Medallist Anton Scharff
(1845–1903), cast and
engraving Karl Waschmann
1898
Cast, assembled from two
halves, 115½ ducats (404 g)
V. MEDAL OF EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEPH I
VI. GOLD COINS FROM ANTIQUITY
Gold was the most valuable of all metals; it
was worth around fifteen times as much as
silver and over two hundred times as much
as bronze. The legendary King Croesus (r. 561–
546 BCE), in Lydia/Western Asia Minor, was
the first to have coins minted from pure gold.
Not until Alexander the Great (r. 336–323
BCE), however, did the first double pieces of
the standard (gold) coin, the so-called statēr, appear. Alexander’s successors in Egypt, the
Ptolemies, minted even larger gold pieces
weighing eight drachmas. As this correspond-
ed to a value of 100 silver drachmas, equalling
a mina, this gold coin was called mnaieion.
From the middle of the first century BCE, the
Romans also minted gold coins, namely the
aureus (»the golden«). Only from Caracalla
(r. 211–217) onwards were double aurei issued
regularly. Hand in hand with the inflation of
silver and copper currency, the aurei also
became lighter, but still larger coin values such
as quadruple or octuple multiples also
appeared.
Gold assumed an even greater role in the cir-
culation of money during Late Antiquity, par-
ticularly in connection with taxation. From
309 CE, the solidus replaced the aureus. It
remained true to its name (»solid«), never vary-
ing in weight and surviving in the Byzantine
Empire until the Middle Ages. Multiple solidi
(so-called multiples) now appeared much
more regularly; the most common values were
one-and-a-half, double, and four-and-a-half
denominations.
Many of the heavy gold coins ended up in the
Barbaricum, were there were often augmented
with lavish settings.
Mnaieion of Ptolemy II
Philadelphus for Arsinoe II.
(27.95 g)
minted between 253–246 BCE
in Egypt
36-solidus of Valens
(r. 364–378) (178.9 g)
Found 1763 in Hungary in
the Danube
minted between 364–367 in
Rome
Reverse: the two Emperors
Valentinian I und Valens
enthroned
This coin was found in 1763 »in the eddies of
the Danube« in modern-day Hungary and
given as a gift to the imperial house. It is set
in a massive gold ring; additional parts of a
jewellery mounting and the eyelet have been
lost.
The coin is a 36-solidus of Emperor Valens
(r. 364–378 CE), which was minted in Rome.
This is the heaviest gold coin from the Roman
period. Only two other exemplars of this val-
ue have ever been discovered; one can be seen
in showcase IX.
The reverse shows the two brothers Valenti-
nian I (r. 364–375) and Valens, peacefully on
the same throne of the essentially already
divided Roman Empire. Leaves and baskets
of money can be seen below. These were the
insignia of the comes sacrarum largitionum, the senior fiscal official; they only appear on
such pieces, which were struck for special oc-
casions.
Though large gold coins were produced simul-
taneously by multiple mints as regular series,
they were sometimes also presented as gifts
to important dignitaries, for instance on Jan-
uary 1st on the accession of a new consul.
VII. GOLD GIANTS: THE MULTIPLE OF EMPEROR VALENS
In 1755, Erasmus Froelich, the keeper of an-
tique coins, published the monumental work
Numismata Cimelii. It represents a register
of the Roman coins and medallions in the im-
perial collection, the value of which lies not
merely in the listing, but also in the scholar-
ly description and organization of the mater-
ial. It contains 25 densely arranged plates of
coins and 112 selected additional illustrations,
each with one or two rarities. The necessary
copper engravings were extremely laborious
to produce, however, and made the publica-
tion very expensive.
Of inestimable value by modern standards is
the tracing of individual coins, which in ear-
lier works had generally been drawn with a
compass and completed – correctly or incor-
rectly depending on current knowledge. This
makes it possible to identify the illustrated
coins in the collection.
The work reflected contemporary efforts to
promote scholarship. The few extant collec-
tion catalogues were the essential foundation
of any research and found international
appeal.
VIII. THE NUMISMATA CIMELII OF ERASMUS FROELICH
Numismata Cimelii, Vienna
1755
First printed register,
predominantly of the
Roman coins in the imperial
collection
On a sunny August day in 1797, two young shep-
herds in Szilágysomlyó, Transylvania (today
Şimleu Silvaniei, Romania) were grazing their
goats, when one of them discovered something
glittering beneath a tree. Several large gold
med al lions and jewellery were uncovered, al-
together one-and-a-half kilograms of gold. The
two duly reported the discovery to the respon-
sible authorities, the Salt Office, from which a
list was sent to the capital in Vienna. In the
meantime, the property owner had taken one
large and two smaller medallions for himself,
which remain lost today.
All of the remaining pieces were purchased by
the imperial collection, where the responsible
keeper, Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, already pub-
lished them in 1798 in the final volumes of his
monumental work Doctrina nummorum
veterum.
The hoard was a royal trove from the Migra-
tion Period, possibly from the Gepids. It con-
tained Roman gold coins dating from 290 to
383 CE, from the simple aureus to the 9-soli
dus, as well as one 36-solidus piece. The coins
all have eyelets or wide ornamental settings.
Two of the pieces are medallions made express-
ly for adornment, which only loosely follow
Roman prototypes.
IX. THE SZILÁGYSOMLYÓ TREASURE
Gold medallion after
the prototype of Valens
(r. 364–378) (412.47 g)
from the Szilágysomlyó
treasure
Obverse: Breast-length
portrait of Valens, slightly
barbarized depiction
An important hoard was unearthed in 1805
during the excavation of a wine cellar in Petri-
janec (Croatia). It consisted of around 230 Ro-
man gold coins, a few of which in ornamen-
tal settings with eyelets, others reworked as
so-called phalerae (decorative disks), as well
as a quintuple aureus and two bracelets, each
of which was set with four gold coins. The
coins dated from Hadrian (r. 117–138) to Dio-
cletian (r. 284–305), one of them from the reign
of Julian (r. 355/361–363).
Despite the war with Napoleon, which was
proceeding unfavourably for the monarchy,
the reporting and assessment of the treasure
took place without incident. As was usual, a
third belonged to the emperor, a third to the
feudal landowner, and a third to the finder.
The imperial third meant the state treasury,
however. If the Coin Cabinet wished to keep
some of the pieces, they had to be purchased
from the exchequer. In this case around two-
thirds of the treasure entered the imperial col-
lection, though integrated without indication
as to the provenance. The fate of the remain-
ing portion is largely unknown.
X. THE PETRIJANEC TREASURE
Quintuple aureus of Carus
and Carinus (27.48 g)
from the Petrijanec treasure
minted 283 in Siscia (Serbia)
In 1887, workers building a street near Czó-
falva in Transylvania (today Crasna, Romania)
found a number of gold bars »the size of seal-
ing wax sticks.« In order to distribute them
evenly, several were cut up, but all of the ap-
parently 15 bars eventually ended up on the
market. The two examples on display entered
the museum in 1906 with the collection of the
Nussdorf brewery owner Baron Karl Bachofen
von Echt (1830–1922).
The bars bear various stamps, which either
show the busts of three emperors or which
guarantee of their gold content through the
officials of the Roman fiscal administration –
the pieces do not have a standardized weight
and weigh between 339 and 524 grams. They
likely date from the period after the invasion
of the Balkans by the Germanic tribes in 378
CE, the beginning of the Migration Period.
They were probably made to be brought to a
mint and struck as currency. The find-spot in
Transylvania, far outside of the Roman Em-
pire, suggests that plunderers attacked the
transport and conveyed their prize along the
Danube, where the bars were again hidden
and not retrieved.
XI. THE CZÓFALVA TREASURE
Gold bar from the Czófalva
treasure (499.86 g)
Produced around 379 CE,
probably in Sirmium (Serbia)
In 1712, Charles VI (r. 1711–1740) charged Carl
Gustav Heraeus (1671–1725) from Sweden with
uniting the holdings of coins and medals scat-
tered amongst various Habsburg possessions
into a spatially unified coin cabinet (Nu
mophylacium Carolinum). The installation
took place between 1714 and 1719 in the Bil-
lard of the imperial apartments in the Vienna
Hofburg, a space that also served as the print
room.
During Charles’ reign, contemporary medals
were also targeted for acquisition by the im-
perial collection – a first, as until then main-
ly antique, and mostly Roman coins had been
collected. The focus of the collection gener-
ally lay in smaller silver pieces and exemplars
made of non-ferrous metals, as Heraeus saw
that in other collections large precious metal
pieces always »run the risk of being melted
down again.«
Charles VI also sponsored the Austrian nu-
mismatic and medalmaking arts, among oth-
er artistic genres. These profited substantial-
ly from technological improvements and the
foundation of an engraving academy. These
measures laid the groundwork for the flower-
ing of the Austrian Baroque medal.
XII. THE COIN CABINET UNDER EMPEROR CHARLES VI
Ceiling painting by Julius
Victor Berger in Room XIX
of the Kunsthistorisches
Museum (detail), 1891
Emperor Charles VI standing
with a feathered cap and
golden Spanish court dress,
flanked by a page with the
coin album still extant today,
the Codex aureus, on the
stone bench Carl Gustav
Heraeus, the Emperor’s
Inspector of Antiquities and
Medals, in a green coat.
Kingdom of England
Elizabeth I. (r. 1588–1603)
Fine Sovereign (15.26 g),
undated
Imperial City of Hamburg
10 ducats (34.58 g), 1665
Francis I (Francis Stephen of Lorraine, 1708–
1765), consort of Maria Theresa (1717–1780),
added a new facet to the politics of coin col-
lecting in the Vienna imperial house. He was
primarily interested in what were then mod-
ern coins from throughout Europe. The coin
collection of Francis I, steadily augmented
through the purchase of rare objects of the
highest quality, was the most precious and
complete of its day.
The year 1748 numbers among the greatest
moments in the history of the Vienna Coin
Collection. After his coronation as Emperor
of the Holy Roman Empire, Francis I had his
art and natural history collections brought
from Florence to Vienna. The coin collection,
then already extensive, was housed in a room
in the so-called Auditor’s-Corridor (Kontrol
lorgang), on the mezzanine level of the Leo-
poldine tract of the Hofburg. The medals and
coins were stored separated by gold and sil-
ver in 13 precious wooden cases.
Francis I would not live to see the planned
move to the new Augustinian Corridor of the
Hofburg. There, in 1766, the Cabinet Impérial
was formed through the combination of the
Numophylacium CarolinoAustriacum and
the Numophylacium Imperatoris Francisci I.
In 1891, this was transferred to the newly
opened court museum on the Burgring section
XIII. NUMOPHYLACIUM IMPERATORIS FRANCISCI I.
of the Ringstrasse, today’s Kunsthistorisches
Museum.
XIV. VALENTIN JAMERAY DUVAL’S MONNOIES EN OR
No one knew the modern coin collection of
Emperor Francis I better than the numisma-
tist Valentin Jameray Duval (1695–1775). Of
humble beginnings, Duval was initially en-
gaged as the Bibliothecarius at the court of
the Dukes of Lorraine, went to Florence in
1737 with the transfer of the Lorrainian col-
lections, and was finally in 1748 charged by
Francis I with the move and reinstallation of
his coin cabinet in Vienna. Here he began the
presentation and cataloguing of the extensive
coin collection.
Duval documented the silver and gold pieces
respectively in two large-format volumes,
Monnoies en argent (1756) and Monnoies en
or (1759). The collection catalogues were pub-
lished in very small editions and personally
given by the emperor as esteemed honorific
gifts.
Following the death of Francis I, Maria
Theresa named Valentin Jameray Duval the
director of the now combined Francine and
Habsburg Cabinet of Coins and Medals in
1765.
Monnoies en or qui composent une des différentes parties du cabinet de S. M. l’Empereur … par Valentin Jameray Duval, Vienne, chez Jean Trattner, imprimeur et libraire de la Cour, 1759. Author’s copy
from Valentin Jameray
Duval, Keeper of the
collection of Emperor
Francis I
Catherine II (Catherine the
Great, r. 1762–1796)
Medal on the installation
of the equestrian statue of
Peter I
Carl von Leberecht
(1749–1827)
1782
79 ducats (276.06 g)
In 1765, the Coin Cabinet held around 65 large
Russian gold medals. This collection was con-
siderably expanded in 1765, when the Coin
Cabinet was sold a group of Russian gold med-
als by the heirs of the former Chancellor, Wen-
zel Anton Graf (1711–1794), from 1764 Prince
Kaunitz-Rietberg. The Chancellor had re-
ceived them as a gift from the Tsarina Cathe-
rine the Great. The group had a total weight
of 4,117 ducats, more than 14 kilograms of gold.
A large portion of these medals refer to
dynastic aspects of Russian history.
XV. RUSSIAN GOLD MEDALS BELONGING TO WENZEL ANTON KAUNITZ-RIETBERG
Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria-Hungary
(1858–1889) was the only son of Emperor Franz
Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth. By his schol-
arly ambitions an ornithologist, he was little
engaged with numismatics. Precisely this cir-
cumstance is interesting, however, as it shows
that persons of high rank might nonetheless
collect significant commemorative pieces and
mementoes. Some of the objects came from
the collection of Ferdinand I (emperor 1835–
1848, † 1875). The chronological range falls
largely within the crown prince’s lifetime, with
an emphasis on medals connected with the
Habsburg-Lorraine family.
The medals and coins from the estate of the
crown prince entered the imperial collection
in 1889. The entire group was purchased, as
following the dubious circumstances of his
death in Mayerling »no one could claim own-
ership of a medal from the collection of Crown
Prince Rudolf.«
The group – 464 objects in total – contains
92 gold pieces with a weight of 1,950 ducats
(6.8 kg).
XVI. GOLD MEDALS BELONGING TO CROWN PRINCE ARCHDUKE RUDOLPH
Wilhelm I (King of Prussia
1861–1888, German Emperor
from 1871)
“Medal of Peace” or
“General’s Medal” on the
victorious war against France
Enthroned Germania is
crowned with laurels by
Victoria and the Goddess
of Peace
(Friedrich) Wilhelm Kullrich
(1821–1887)
1871
120 ducats (418.42 g)
This Codex aureus was the first of four vol-
umes that can be considered the highlights of
the Caroline coin collection. This coin album
is probably the only preserved coin holder
dating from the time of Charles VI.
According to the text on the flyleaf, Charles
issued the order for the creation of his coin
collection, the Numophylacium Carolinum,
in 1712.
FIRST CODEX AUREUS OF EMPEROR CHARLES VI (R. 1711–1740) 1714
LECTURE* THUR 2.6., 6 PM CURATOR’S TOURS** WED 15.6. AND MON 27.6. WED 7.9. AND 5.10.
3 PMIN GERMAN
»Numophylacium Imperatoris« – Die
Wiener Münzkabinette im 18. Jahrhundert
held by Elisabeth Hassmann
in German
Anna Fabiankowitsch
Klaus Vondrovec
*Lecture room, 2nd floor
Attendance is free, no reservation.
**Meeting point: Entrance Hall
Attendance is free with a valid entrance
ticket, no reservation.
Dr Sabine Haag, Director General
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna
Burgring 5, 1010 Vienna
© 2015 KHM-Museumsverband
Michael Alram
Anna Fabiankowitsch
Klaus Vondrovec
Heinz Winter
Karin Zeleny
Rita Neulinger
EDITOR
CURATORS AND AUTHORS
PARTNER
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
COPY-EDITING GRAPHIC DESIGN