Historical and Art Medals

U 22, L 19, England, das Mass ist Voll [England, the Cup is Full], 1916, a cast iron medal by W. Eberbach, skeletal figure of Death with clenched fists striding through the sea towards England, Zeppelin partly hidden by clouds at right, rev. legend beneath German flag, 68mm (Frankenhuis 1501; Kaiser –; BDM VII, 245). Extremely fine, rare (£80-100)

Illustrated on the Plates. On 21 January 1915 Lieutenant-Commander Bruno Hoppe, commanding U22, sighted another submarine in the fog off the coast of Holland and fired a torpedo at it. The submarine sank with all hands and was later discovered to be the German U-boat U7, whose commander, Georg König, was Hoppe's best friend. For notes on the Zeppelin L 19, see lot 1522