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

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