Historical and Art Medals

Die Torpedierung der Lusitania [The Sinking of the Lusitania], 1915, a cast bronze medal by K. Goetz, sinking liner, rev. queue at the Cunard ticket office manned by skeletal figure, 58mm (K 156). Good very fine (£100-150)

Goetz’s medal, inspired by one of the most infamous incidents of the war, led to the well known issue by the British of crude copies sold as anti-German propaganda on behalf of the Red Cross. The medals have been discussed on numerous occasions in the numismatic press and Kienast gives a full and interesting account. Goetz’s justification of the piece was that it was in no way intended to celebrate the disaster but rather to castigate the Cunard Line for putting innocent civilians at risk for the sake of profit; underwater photography has recently revealed that the Lusitania was indeed carrying arms. It is unknown how many original medals were made but in a letter dated 1916 Goetz claims he sold 180, 75 of which went to the Amsterdam dealer Jacques Schulman