When Europe Loomed Large – Antique European Art Medals

When Europe Loomed Large - Antique European Art Medals
A late 19th century bronze art medal featuring Franz Joseph I, the ruler of the now defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1848 to 1916.  This specimen comes in its original box, enhancing its desirability.

Art doesn’t have very many rules.  But it does have one immutable law.  It must be beautiful.  This truism might seem obvious to the casual observer, but the world today doesn’t always make sense.

As an example, let’s briefly examine Jackson Pollock’s well-known drip painting in the abstract expressionist style, No. 5, 1948.  The work is a confused jumble of earth-tone paint splatters interspersed with random splashes of yellow.  To say that the oil on fiberboard painting is difficult to appreciate is a bit of an understatement.  In fact, it looks more like the unfortunate outcome of a sick child projectile vomiting his baseball stadium meal of a hotdog, soft pretzel and coke than a work of art.

And if abstract expressionism’s lack of aesthetic appeal wasn’t enough to deter you, prepare for sticker shock.  This particular Jackson Pollock – No. 5, 1948 – last sold in a private sale via Sotheby’s auction house in 2006 for a mind-boggling $140,000,000.00.  That is 14 followed by 7 zeros, or $140 million dollars.

And if you’re still interested, keep in mind that the traditional art market is over-run with fakes.  It would take decades of intense study to acquire the knowledge necessary to reliably distinguish a genuine Jackson Pollock work from the legions of forgeries being peddled by con artists.  In fact, even the experts can’t agree among themselves if some well-known works can legitimately be attributed to Pollock or not.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the aspiring art collector had an alternative to buying absurdly priced, frequently counterfeited, abstract paintings of dubious artistic merit?  Well, there is another option: antique European art medals.  Medals, which resemble large presentation coins, are typically composed of bronze, silver-plated bronze, silver or vermeil (gold-plating over solid silver).  Unlike commemorative coins they have no stated face value and are not legal tender.

Although medals have been struck throughout the world, the most attractive and collectible examples originate from Europe.  Pieces from as early as the 18th century can be readily acquired, although their artistic zenith occurs from the mid 19th to the early 20th century.

Europe underwent dramatic political, social and technological changes from circa 1850 to World War II.  On the one hand, scientific advancements propelled the continent forward at breakneck speeds.  First railroads, then cars and finally airplanes connected Europe as never before while the advent of electricity ushered in an age of glittering, sophisticated cities.

However, at the same time Europe was still hopelessly anchored to its medieval past.  Kings, emperors and monarchs of every description ruled over almost every nation on the continent.  The aristocracy not only still existed, but believed itself to be the ordained political elite by virtue of ancient lineage and feudal legacy.  All these cultural crosscurrents combine vividly on antique European art medals, bringing this tumultuous time of rapid change to life.

 

Antique French Silver Art Medals for Sale on eBay

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Art medals are often large, with dimensions occasionally exceeding 50 millimeters (2 inches) in diameter and 62 grams (2 troy ounces) in weight.  This results in extremely impressive works of art that can be substantially larger than a U.S. silver dollar.  These generous sizes make medals a perfect medium to express the engraver’s art, allowing the artist to fully explore the subject over an unrestricted expanse.

As presentation pieces, medals are usually struck with extremely detailed designs in very high relief.  They rarely suffer from flaws – like weak strikes – commonly found in mass-produced, circulating coinage.  Medals also excel as miniature works of art because they are typically struck in very limited quantities and receive minimal wear.  This contrasts sharply with regular coins, which are minted by the million and often experience very heavy wear due to circulation.

Like any legitimate work of art, very high quality medals were oftentimes signed by the artist.  Many of the best known medalists were French, reflecting France’s leading position as an engraving center in the 19th century.  This isn’t surprising considering France’s world-wide reputation for producing art of the highest quality.

In addition to their typical round format, some of these French masterpieces were struck in rectangular shapes known as “plaques” or “plaquettes”.  French medals, as well as other European medals, echo the grandeur and confidence of the continent’s assorted empires and kingdoms during its cultural apogee of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

European medals feature a wide variety of subjects from important historical figures such as kings, queens and emperors to prosaic pastoral scenes of cows and fields.  Mythological themes and national personifications also make prominent appearances.  A topic often encountered in medals from Germany and Switzerland was shooting competition awards while France was famous for its wedding medals.  Pieces celebrating royal coronations were created in almost every European nation.

Medals can be found commemorating an almost endless number of subjects in a myriad of styles – everything from aeronautical motifs in sleek art deco minimalism to Napoleonic busts rendered with staid neo-classical realism.  A striking collection could be built around country of origin, theme or style of art, to name just a few.  Medals really are a garden of earthly delights for the discerning, yet cost conscious, art aficionado.

 

Antique NGC Certified Swiss Silver Shooting Medals for Sale on eBay

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When investing in antique European art medals, size matters.  As a general rule, the larger the medal the more desirable it is.  The kind of metal used in a piece is important too.  Examples in bronze usually sell for somewhat less than equivalent medals in silver.  Sometimes pieces are even found with their original presentation cases intact which increases both desirability and resale value.

As with most antiques, damaged or excessively worn medals should be avoided.  Eye appeal is paramount.  Medals that feature certain popular subjects – like cars or railroads – usually trade at higher prices than their more mundane counterparts.  Occasionally medals are certified by a third-party grading service.  This is beneficial as it ensures a medal’s authenticity.

One would expect a medal struck for the 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria to command a rather large premium.  Such a historically important item not only boldly proclaims the opulent glory of the late 19th century British Empire but also simultaneously exhibits the pinnacle of the engravers art.  Surprisingly, however, these specimens can be had for under $200.  Other fine European medals in both bronze and silver can be purchased for $60 to $300.  However, even the very largest and finest medals rarely exceed $500.

This means that a stunningly beautiful collection of one or two dozen impressively sized medals could be acquired for only a few thousand dollars.  In an art world dominated by ugly $140 million dollar abstract paintings, European medals represent a secret oasis of reasonably priced, accessible beauty.

 

Read more in-depth Antique Sage rare coin investment guides here.

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France, 1848 AE Essai 10 Centimes, PCGS SP65RB, Maz-1315, Iridescent toning

France,-1848-AE-Essai-10-Centimes,-PCGS-SP65RB,-Maz-1315,-Iridescent-toning
Photo Credit: Atlas-Numismatics

France, 1848 AE Essai 10 Centimes, PCGS SP65RB, Maz-1315, Iridescent toning

Buy It Now Price: $395 (price as of 2016; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This is a bronze French 10 centimes essai from 1848.  “Essai” is a French term for a pattern or trial, a specimen coin struck by a national mint for test purposes.

-Essais often have unique designs that were never used for circulating coinage, as is the case with this 10 centimes trial piece.

-Because essais are test strikes, mintages are very low and generally fluctuate anywhere from a handful of specimens to a few hundred.  This extreme rarity enhances the desirability of trial pieces.

-The obverse features a crowned, laureate bust of Liberty executed in the finest neo-classical style.  The reverse is a simple, yet elegant wreath enclosing the denomination and date.  A mid 19th century French artistic sensibility really shines in this art work.

-This specimen is impressively large for a bronze fiduciary coinage, with a diameter of about 30 mm (1.18 inches) and a weight of about 10 grams.  It is about the same size as a U.S. large cent from the same time period.

-This essai coin has a rich, red-brown patina on the devices (raised surfaces) set off by stunning violet-blue toning in the fields (recessed surfaces).  It is difficult to overstate how gorgeous this coin is.  Toning this magnificent positively impacts value.

-This coin is certified by the well-regarded third party grading service PCGS.  It has been assigned a grade of MS-65, or mint state 65, on a scale of MS-60 to MS-70.  A score of 70 represents perfection while 60 is a very banged up, but still uncirculated piece.  MS-65 is a very high score for an almost 170 year old coin and is equivalent to Gem Brilliant Uncirculated.  The PCGS certification also guarantees the authenticity of the specimen.

 

Cons:

-This essai is struck from bronze instead of a precious metal like silver or gold.  If it had been struck from a precious metal, its desirability would be substantially increased, but so would its price.

-Because the coin is French, there may be somewhat limited collector demand in the future.  I see this as being the only significant investment risk associated with the piece.  Of course, if this coin was a more highly prized U.S. issue, I would also expect the price to be about 10 times higher, if not more.

-A mere 10 years ago it was possible to purchase many 19th century French essais for only $100 or $200 each.  However, as with many investment grade antiques, prices have increased substantially during the past decade.  Given this specimen’s PCGS certification, superb condition and unparalleled eye appeal, $395 seems like a very equitable price.

Of Karat Gold and Noble Nuclei

Of Karat Gold and Noble Nuclei

Gold is omnipresent in the world of investment-grade art.  Serious connoisseurs of art and antiques frequently encounter items made either partially or entirely from gold.  This isn’t surprising considering gold is a premier luxury material.  The yellow precious metal has been lavishly used in everything from high-end jewelry to luxury watches to vintage fountain pens to breathtaking objets d’art.

Gold purity in jewelry and other antiques is usually measured in karats, with 24 karats representing pure gold.  Gold alloys commonly encountered are 18 karat (75%) gold, 14 karat (58.3%) gold and 10 karat (41.67%) gold.  In addition to the aforementioned alloys, British antiques and jewelry can sometimes be 22 karat (91.67%) gold, 15 karat (62.5%) gold or 9 karat (37.5%) gold.

Now a question that we might naturally ask ourselves as investors in antiques is which of these alloys is acceptable and which aren’t?  At what point is a gold alloy too diluted to qualify as “investment-grade” anymore?  The short answer is “the point where the gold alloy stops acting like gold.”  In other words, how low can one descend the karat ladder before your gold alloy becomes vulnerable to corrosion and tarnish?  Another important factor is that low purity gold alloys have difficulty achieving an intense, true gold color.

In order to determine a reasonable lower bound for acceptable gold purity, we need to understand a basic, fundamental law of gold alloys that is not widely known.  A gold alloy’s corrosion resistance is closely related to the percentage of gold atoms it contains.  The higher that percentage, the more the alloy will behave like pure gold.

Any other precious metal atoms in the alloy (usually silver, although palladium is sometimes an alloying agent in white gold) also help enhance corrosion resistance, although not to the extent that gold does.  Precious metals are sometimes referred to as the noble metals because of their chemical inertness.  Therefore, we want a gold alloy to not only have a high percentage of gold atoms, but also a high percentage of noble metal atoms – aka noble nuclei.

So, even though we know the percentage of our alloy that is gold by weight, this isn’t the information we need.  We must convert this proportion by weight to proportion by number of atoms.  Luckily, we can derive this information with a bit of math and science, assuming we know all the constituents of the alloy in question.  The formula we’re going to use for this is below:

 

Number of Atoms = (Percentage of Element in Alloy x Avogadro’s Constant)/Atomic Weight of Element

 

Avogadro’s number (6.022141527 × 10^23) allows us to estimate the number of atoms, molecules or ions in any substance provided we know its mass and molecular or atomic weight.  To make this calculation work we also need to know the atomic weights of metals commonly found in yellow gold alloys for our calculations.  However, in this case, we can ignore mass because we only care about the ratio of gold to its other alloying constituents.

Now if we plug the various numbers for a typical 18 karat yellow gold alloy (75% gold, 12.5% silver and 12.5% copper by weight) into the formula above we get the number of atoms each element contributes to the alloy.  Then, using a little more simple math we find the relative proportion of each element in the alloy in terms of number of atoms present, instead of by weight, which is how alloys are usually represented.

In this case, our 18 karat yellow gold alloy is composed of 54.92% gold atoms, 16.71% silver atoms and 28.37% copper atoms.  The noble nuclei (gold and silver) together are fully 71.63%.  The very high percentage of noble nuclei – and gold nuclei in particular – give this alloy excellent corrosion resistance and a rich, deep gold color.

You may have noticed that the proportion of any element’s atoms is inversely correlated to its atomic weight.  In other words, very large atoms – like gold – tend to contribute fewer atoms to an alloy than their percentage by weight in the alloy would suggest.  Conversely, smaller atoms – like copper – will contribute more atoms to the alloy than their percentage by weight would imply.

Now let’s make the same calculations using a typical 14 karat yellow gold alloy consisting of 58.3% gold, 12% silver, 19.7% copper and 10% zinc by weight.  The percentage of gold atoms contained in this 14 karat yellow gold allow has now declined to 34.01% while the noble nuclei have dropped to 46.80%.  This 14 karat gold alloy, although possessing slightly less desirable properties than its 18 karat gold counterpart, will still have good corrosion resistance and a pleasing yellow-gold color.

Let’s try this one more time, this time using a typical 9 karat yellow gold alloy composed of 37.5% gold, 10% silver, 45% copper and 7.5% zinc by weight.  The percentage of gold atoms has declined precipitously to 17.22% in this 9 karat yellow gold alloy.  Even the level of noble nuclei has dramatically fallen to 25.60%.  This gold alloy will be inferior, with poor corrosion resistance and a pale, washed out yellow color.

Once a gold alloy declines below 30% to 35% gold atoms or 35% to 40% noble nuclei, it starts to look and behave much more like its constituent base metals than gold.  This transition occurs right around the 14 karat mark.

Once a gold alloy dips below this level, even to just 12 karats, its physical properties rapidly deteriorate.  Lower karat gold alloys like 9 or 10 karat are simply lost causes.  No matter how you manipulate their component elements, it’s impossible to get an alloy that has good color and good corrosion resistance.

The conclusion is clear: only buy 14 karat gold or better jewelry for investment purposes; avoid anything lower.  This sage advice is echoed by the quality distribution apparent in fine jewelry as well.

18 karat gold alloys and above have traditionally been exclusively restricted for use in very high quality jewelry.  14 and 15 karat gold is the middle ground, where workmanship can vary tremendously, ranging from mediocre to excellent.  Lower karat gold alloys – like 9 and 10 karat gold – have traditionally been reserved for mass-produced items with little regard for quality.

Financial Escape Hatches for the Average Person

Financial Escape Hatches for the Average Person

The scandalous “Panama Papers”, a collection of 2.6 terabytes of secret data from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, reveal shockingly widespread corruption and tax evasion among the global elite.  The Panama Papers have implicated many politically powerful people in shadowy financial dealings, including the Prime Minister of Iceland, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and numerous upper echelon Chinese Communist Party family members, among others.  Complicated trusts, shady offshore companies and hidden foreign real estate and share holdings are apparently as common among the global elite as grains of sand on the beach.

In light of the Panama Papers, you could be forgiven for thinking that the entire international establishment is corrupt.  You wouldn’t be wrong, either.  The political system really is biased toward the super-rich and politically powerful while the working man gets no relief from unyielding regulations and onerous taxes.  And yet discreetly building wealth is a goal that many of us common folk still secretly hope to pursue.

Most of us, understandably, have no chance of replicating the complex trust funds and offshore holdings detailed in the Panamanian Papers.  It is simply a non-starter, at least if your net worth is below about 10 million dollars.  However, there are certain overlooked assets available to ordinary people who value anonymity and discretion: cash, crypto-currencies, bullion and fine art and antiques.

Cold, hard cash is the first option.  While hoarding a stack of hundred dollar bills is not viable over the course of decades due to the corrosive effects of inflation, it is certainly feasible for a few years or potentially longer.  Cash is anonymous, discreet and, best of all, accepted absolutely everywhere!

Cash’s biggest problem is that once you withdraw it from the bank, you bear the risk of it being stolen or accidentally destroyed.  Also, the U.S. federal government likes to track large (typically $10,000 or greater) cash transactions.  Even so, a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars quietly secreted in a safe or other well-chosen hiding spot in your house could potentially be very useful.

A second possibility is the rapidly emerging field of crypto-currencies.  A crypto-currency is virtual money that is “mined” via computers that perform extremely intensive calculations.  Bitcoin is the most widely known example of a crypto-currency.  The major advantage of storing a small portion of your wealth in crypto-currencies is that they are totally anonymous – even more so than cash.

And this desirable anonymity extends to any online transactions involving crypto-currencies as well.  It is possible to purchase almost anything your heart desires online with the right crypto-currency – computers (Dell), tools (Sears), jewelry (Reeds Jewelers), a hotel room (Expedia) or even drugs (the dark net).  Even Amazon.com accepts Bitcoin as payment!

As interesting as crypto-currencies are, they do have significant drawbacks.  Most notably, they lack any intrinsic value. The calculations performed during the “mining” process, while consuming real resources in the form of electricity, don’t have any useful societal value, other than to confirm a crypto-currency’s block chain.

A block chain is a shared public ledger than keeps track of all transactions – and, by extension, all current balances – of a virtual currency.  However, block chain calculations are entirely self-referential, with no value outside that particular crypto-currency’s ecosystem.

Another issue with crypto-currencies is deciding which one to choose.  It can feel a lot like gambling on a horse race; you never know if you’ve picked the next Triple Crown winner or just another of the many, many losers.

The obvious leader in crypto-currencies today is Bitcoin.  It is the first and most well known virtual money.  Litecoin is also a rather well-established crypto-currency.  Etherium is another up and coming option that is rapidly gaining exposure.  Primecoin is notable because the intensive computer calculations used to “mine” the currency also serve to uncover new prime numbers – a feature that potentially makes the currency’s block chain “mining” calculations valuable to higher mathematics and, indirectly, humanity as a whole.

No discussion of off-the-radar ways to store wealth would be complete without mentioning precious metals.  Gold and silver bullion have been perennial favorites for decades among prudent wealth builders.  Compact, intrinsically valuable and widely recognized and accepted, bullion is one of the most perfect ways to quietly and discreetly stockpile wealth.

For as many benefits as precious metals have, however, there are still some drawbacks.  Much like cash, they must be safely stored, either in a safe or other good hiding spot.  Space constraints can also become an issue under some circumstances.  While gold, platinum and palladium have excellent value density, large dollar amounts of silver can be somewhat bulky.  In addition, transporting significant quantities of bullion can present certain distinct challenges, especially across international borders.

Bullion, however, is more of a wealth preserver than a true wealth builder.  Over long periods of time (several decades or longer) gold and silver tend to keep pace with the rate of inflation.  This is fine if your goal is to stockpile existing capital.  But if you’re looking to actively build wealth, bullion should be a modest part of your overall portfolio rather than the majority.

This leads us to our final, and possibly best, discreet asset: fine art and antiques.  Unlike bullion, high quality art and antiques have the potential to generate future returns well in excess of the rate of inflation.  They are not merely stores of wealth.  Instead, these luxury assets are really a claim on future GDP, independent of how that GDP is eventually produced.

This is one reason they are so powerful as investments.  You don’t have to speculate in today’s stock market casino, trying to guess which company or sector is going to create the next iPhone or Facebook.  Instead, you can just dedicate a reasonable portion of your net worth to investment grade art and antiques and then relax, confident in the knowledge that you have chosen wisely.

Art and antiques also compare favorably with cash, crypto-currencies and bullion in the important dimension of anonymity.  A fine collection of antique, solid gold pocket watches or ancient Greek electrum staters, for example, can easily fit into a small box, yet may be worth many thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars.  Your nosy neighbors or coworkers won’t ever find out that your collection is worth a small fortune – or even that you have a collection – unless you tell them.

Unlike cash, there are few to no laws that require the tracking and recording of transactions involving fine art and antiques.  And if need be, some antiques – like jewelry – can be easily slipped around a neck or onto a finger and casually carried across international borders – a feat that is difficult with bullion or cash.

The Panama Papers have laid bare the deplorable corruption rampant among the global elite.  But as a wise man once said, “Why get angry when you can get even?”  A little bit of cash, crypto-currency, bullion or fine art and antiques could help you build wealth while giving you peace of mind in these turbulent times.  Although these four assets have their individual strengths and weaknesses, they are all intriguing alternatives that the average person could potentially use to escape the tyranny of the modern financial markets.