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Rare Theodor Herzl Silver Medal Jewish Vienna Austria Israel pre WWII
Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), Jewish Medal, Vienna, Austria, pre WWII
By August Menze.
Edge: Smooth.
Silver.
7.42 g
20 by 29.1 mm
Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 - 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Due to his Zionist work, he is known in Hebrew as Chozeh HaMedinah (חוֹזֵה הַמְדִינָה), lit. 'Visionary of the State'. He is specifically mentioned in the Israeli Declaration of Independence and is officially referred to as "the spiritual father of the Jewish State". (Wikipedia)
The following is an article titled "Theodor Herzl Medal" published in the The Shekel, Volume XXI, Number 4, July-August 1988, written by Manfred Anson. Manfred Anson passed in 2012 and had one of the biggest ever assembled collection of Herzl memorabilia. He is also famous for his One-of-a-Kind Menorah.
This offering is the same exact one from the article below.
Theodor Herzl Medal
This 30 mm X 20 mm Silver medal has been in the collection of our Society member Fred Jacobs for many years without him knowing that he actually had a very rare and unknown Herzl item.
It is perhaps one of the most intriguing pieces about Herzl which ever came to the notice of the writer who has been collecting Herzl medals for over ten years.
To begin with, this medal seems to have been a pin to be worn in a suit lapel by members of an organization which was called AGUDAT THEODOR HERZL of VIENNA. The name of this organization appears under the portrait in Hebrew.
The portrait as usual faces to the left and is Not very different as that designed by the late Shmuel Kretchmer of Jerusalem who perhaps produced more Herzl medals than anyone else.
However there are some very significant other items on this medal which need to be mentioned. In the upper right hand corner of the incused area surrounding the head are two letters underneath each other with a star in between. The letters are H and S.
Those are very likely the initials of the graphic artist Herman Struck (1876-1944) who was widely known for his etchings. On his way back from Palestine in 1903 he met Herzl in Vienna and this meeting resulted in the now famous etched portrait of a prematurely old Herzl at 43. Struck was only one of four artists who knew Herzl and created images of him during his lifetime. Struck was also known to have etched those initials and a star on many of his etchings and most likely he produced the design for this medal, because he was not a sculptor or medalist.
On the lower left side is a Hallmark A.M. which stands of the designer of the medal August Menze whose name and that of his firm appears on the back of the medal:
GRAVUR UND PRAEGE AUG.
MENZE VI/2 MARIAHILFERSTRASSE 115
Above this legend there is the remainder of a peg by which the piece was worn most likely together with a clamp to keep it on the lapel.
There also appears another Hallmark on the lower right side which looks either like a fish with a #3 or a cornucopia.
What could this Organization Theodor Herzl have been like in Vienna at the turn of the Century?
Inquiries with the Zionist Archives in Jerusalem only produced the information that there was a Students Organization by the name VEREIN ZIONISTISCHER HOCHSCHUEHLER THEODOR HERZL or ASSOCIATION OF ZIONIST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS THEODOR HERZL which functioned from 1903 till 1938 when Austria joined the Third Reich of Germany.
However the Archives do not have this medal nor can it be found in the Museum on Mt. Herzl nor in the Kadman Numismatic Museum in Tel Aviv. Looking at several later medals of Herzl, it could very well be that this small medal was the prototype of all those designed by those sculptors who had to work from paintings and etchings as well( as photographs. There are of course no definite proofs to above speculations, almost all the medals produced of Herzl before 1920 have never been signed or recorded and all the mints have long vanished into history.
(A few typos might be present as this scan was made by a software, I fixed some but might have missed others.)
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