While I have never had much use for “modern art” I am in love with the allegorical ladies of the classical art style. Having an eye for these ladies I see them frequently on medals and coins. Often they look so similar that I think they might be sisters or cousins. Illustrated below are two of the ladies hard at work defending their borders. In 1914 Helvetia on the left was already guarding her Swiss borders as seen here standing with her sword drawn next to a stone border marker. Two years later in 1916 her beautiful sister Columbia was guarding the United States’ border with Mexico. Her sword is also drawn and her shield at the ready while accompanied by her pet eagle next to a stone border marker facing an angry rattlesnake. I hope she’s ready for another tour of duty.

As a collector of military medals and a variety of other things I like to go to antique shops, malls and shows. Usually there will be one or more dealers with large selections of picture post cards which can be a gold mine for military collectors. Soldiers in uniform can be found pictured in great detail showing weapons, medals, insignia, equipment and regalia. If you can name it, you can probably find it on a post card. Military regalia includes flags and flags on postcards is a popular theme with postcard collectors. Most flag cards usually have American flags. Once in a while however a rare flag will turn up amid all the common stars and stripes like on the card illustrated below. The officer is seated next to the flag of the Third Oregon National Guard Regiment.

It’s not that unusual to issue medals to school children that commemorate the end of a war or on the anniversary of a great battle like Waterloo but why did the medal illustrated below get pinned on the pupils? Awarded by the twin cities of Saarbrucken and St. Johann, one side which maybe the obverse, commemorates the Peace Celebration after the end of the Franco-Prussian War which is normal enough. The other side however commemorates the German victory in the battle of Spichern August 6, 1870. My first thought was that maybe some of their local units fought in the battle but as far as I could find out none of the locals were involved in that battle which was fought not far from the twin cities. For Saarbrucken the victory at Spichern must have been very sweet because when France declared war, French units quickly crossed the border and captured and occupied Saarbrucken until the French troops were forced to retreat. The retreat ended at Spichern and thus we have a medal commemorating both a peace celebration and victorious battle.

Here is a medal awarded to someone for using their brain. There are a fair number of such medal types out there but this one has a history which is a bit more interesting than most. The Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft was a society for the advancement of the sciences. It was founded in 1911 and lasted with that name through the Third Reich which is amazing in it’s own right. In 1946 the American Occupation Government decided that the organization smacked too much of the old Germany and ended it’s existence on July 11, 1946. Our British allies however, were a little more level headed and had second thoughts. The society was good they thought. Only the name was wrong. So two months later on Sept. 11, 1946 they re-instituted the society under a new name, “The Max Planck Gesellschaft” and it still exists to this very day. Well done I say!!