Tel. (+44) 020 8458 9933
Mob. (+44) 07976 259 533

Medals

Reference:4007 Ulrichskreuz or 'Crux Victorialis' of Augsburg, c. 1550

An elaborate military engagement between opposing cavalry. Three-line inscription between sprays of laurel. CRUX VICTORIALIS Silver, with feint traces of gilding, cast. 57 x 52 mm. (2.30 x 2.10 inches).

Condition: Extremely fine and beautifully chased. An ancient casting flaw occurs on the lower arm of the cross, where it might once have been detached. A charming and most attactive piece..

Notes: This medal commemorates the battle of Lechfeld in 955 between the Saxons and the Magyars. So celebrated was the Saxon victory and the accompanying military campaigns that they were commemorated on Ulrichskreuz or Crux Victorialis. They date from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and are all of a maltese cross form, and approximate to a standard design. The later issues tend to be in brass or copper and somewhat crudely struck. This piece is of a particularly high quality and early period of manufacture, coinciding as it does with the growth of Augsburg as a centre of the goldsmith and medal-making industry in Germany in the sixteenth century.