COINED HATE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 190, 7 May 1919, Page 2

COINED HATE

IN SILVER, COPPER AND IRON

GERMANY'S WAR CURRENCY

Germany coined her hate, not only hymned it. It was struck in-silver, cop]ier, and iron, and the result was a harvest of satiric medals such as might have come from the devil's own mint. They were, however, a. peculiarlv German phenomenon, and neither tho Prince of Darkness nor any other nation can lay just claim to their invention, which began in 191-1 and rose raoidlv toward perfection as the emotion which" inspired them gained momentum from current events. ■ ' v

Most of the nations during llie war managed to vent their special satiric vein through the medium of cartoons. The German' people, looking for something more solid r.nd endhring, hit upon the medallion. Now a medal whici is usually designed to commemorate tome kind of national triumph acnuires. a sinister significance when it is put to tho negative duty of exploiting the defeat of the enemy'nation, be it real or imaginary. ' It is to this duty that these medals were put. They were not'issued by the Government, but' were .turned out" either by private individuals or patriotic societies as instruments of propaganda. "At first they were cast in copper. Later, copper becoming scarce, they - apilcared in iron, tlio more impure the iron, the better the medal, it is said. During the war a few of tlieso medals found their way to this country. At present their number is greatly augmented, among them being the very fine collection brought together, by the American Numismatic Society, through the courtesy of which the present reproductions were made. There is no special artistis value to most of these medals, but in a rough way they exhibit a resemblance to medieval German woodcuts, with their grotesque imagery and their frequent introduction of the skeleton Death. W. Eberbach, in his series of medals vilifying England, which included tho famous • Lusitania medal, in 191G even resurrected the -medieval title the "Dance of Death" for 'his productions. 'No nation escaped its satiric commemoration. The Dance of Death was levelled mostly J; England, but Italy • _ and Ireland : came in lor some notice; "Britannia, Rule tho Waves. Though?", representing . Death sinking, a British Dreadnought, was directed against Lord. Fisher. The Lusi- ' tania medal, showing Death riding a steamship which flies, the British flag, andj inscribed' "Trickery and Forewarned Frivolity on Board the Lusitania," was directed against President Wilson, .the "despiser of the warning." Baron Sonnino was the special object of wrath in .tlio third of' tho series, labelled "Latin Fidelity," and showing Death kneeling to wring the neck of the Roman she-wolf.

"England, tho Measure is Full," fourth of the series, depicted Death with clenched fists rushing into the sea toward England, while.-a; Zeppelin precedes it half-hidden by clouds. Death was again tlic protagonist in tho fifth of tho series, this time,wearing the cap of a British I'oimny and sitting on the ■ grave of 'Homo ltule," smoking a pipe and moiling a'bouquet of shamrocks. "May ilossoms from tho Green Isle" is its Ggend. The last of the group commemoated tho sinking of the Tuoautia, and ras slugged "England's Greetings to the Central Tubantia." Death ready to auiic'h two torpedoes at a passing vessel ccttpied one side, and tho reverse boro he verses, "Es kann der Beste night in 'ridden loben, Wehn es dem bosen Naclii inr niclit gcfallt" (the best man cann"'' ive in peace if he does not pleas*-"" ■icked neighbour). ' '■ .-

Prance came in for satire in meda form early in the War, but as time well on England and the United-States offered it seems, more attractive subjects. Ir, 1911 appeared the silver medal, "To Paris!" showing a young 1 athlete on horseback ready to charge on. the city. This was hardly a satiric medal, but it was 60on"\ followed by another, distinctly so, showing the Gallic cock trampling the unrolled- treaty of the Gen ova Convention, while a number of dum-dum bullets were revealed piled up in the rear. "All Ho ispect for the 'Grande Nation'" was its legend. The reverse side threatened "You will soon be, reaping Revenge." The Franco-Russian Entente also bad its share of Teutonio fury in iron. Furv is,'however, a mild word to deseribo ■ the ruling passion of the medals which were continuously issued against •• England. Early in 1914 appeared "England and Her Henchmen," representing John Bull pulling the strings of the Allied States or' urging them into battle before her. England 1 seeking to bribe Pope Benedict XV in 1914; England making use of neutral flags to guard her ships in 1915; England sinking U-boats with' "mystery ships" •in the same year; England as a sea monster in combat with Germany the young Hercules; England in 1917 as Death driving Franco as a woman bound and beaten before him towards y Verdun; England ill every diobolical act that the mind of a propogandist could invent or artist could depict was shown in these medals issued throughout the whole four years. The United States as profiteer seema to have been the most popular phase for medal purposes. "Europe's Suicide," designed in 1917 by Karl Goetz, represents Europa borne on the back of a bull which is about to hurl itself on the bayonets of an army, while on the reverse side of the medal stands America accompanied by Japanese grinding out money from a column. "The Laughter of the' Heirs" is its title. Similarly President Wilson is shown in another medal as the "zealous notewriter," pen in one hand .and bag of money in tlio other. Above his liead is the German proverb. "Ohno Fleiss kcincn Preis" (No reward without 1 industry). The American munition trade • was satirised in a umface medal designed bv L. Gies. "America in the World War" it. purported to show, revealing a sea monster, laden with ammunition, its month bulging with money, swimming down the Hudson Jliver. The skvline of New York could bo seen, m the background, and the monster wore the hat of Uncle Sam; From the same artist cilme the "Russian Revolution, 1917," showing a niob of revolutionaries mounting the steps of the thrflne and hurling the Tsar from his place, a piece that is only rivalled in fepulsivencss by the medal "Wic lanso noch? (How much longer?), which depicts Death taking the pulse, of the sick giant Russia, whosr body is about to fall on and crush U 1 Allies. '