Germany, German States. Utrecht, 1714

Germany, German States. Utrecht, 1714

$1,600.00

Tin Medal, approx. 30.92 g (44mm, 12h).

Satirical Medal. Spain, War of the Spanish Succession 1700-1714/15, Medal of mockery 1714, Peace of Utrecht and Peace of Rastatt. On the obverse the inscription DISCORDIA MAXIMA DILABVNTVR ("DISCORD DESTROYS EVEN GREAT THINGS"), 3 policemen with raised fists, but lowered swords. On the reverse CONCORDIA RES PARVAE CRESCVNT ("THROUGH HARMONY SMALL THINGS GROW"), 3 policemen attending to their needs.

References: GPH-784 Satirical

Grade: Graded AU58 by NGC (#2942 144-001)

wc1349

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Struck in the Dutch Republic in 1714, this satirical medal skewers the Peace of Utrecht (1713) and Peace of Rastatt (1714) that closed the War of the Spanish Succession. The Dutch, who bankrolled much of the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV, felt fleeced when Britain cut a separate deal with France, leaving them only modest gains while Philip V kept Spain and Britain walked off with Gibraltar and Minorca.

The engraver makes the bitterness explicit. The DISCORDIA MAXIMA DILABVNTVR side shows three quarreling diplomats with raised fists and lowered swords, polyglot speech-bubbles snapping in Latin, French, English, and Dutch - "Me what is that?" "Sans regard." The CONCORDIA RES PARVAE CRESCVNT reverse is filthier: the same three figures crouch and defecate together. The classical mottos on concord and discord become a multilingual raspberry, which when combined with the scatological humor makes this medal a potent political commentary.