WHO~S ~LOOS~? MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE ARTIST/MEDALIST WHO DESIGNED

THE HANSEATIC LEGION MEDAL.

Murray Louis

Russell Furtado’s article The Hanseatic Medal and Crosses, that appeared in the November-December 2005 issue of JOMSA caught my attention, partly because it dealt with a relatively rare medal struck by the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg, Ltibeck (the capital) and Bremen, the surviving major cities of the old Hanseatic League. The League began life in the mid-fourteenth century as a commercial effort by several cities in northwest Germany, near the North Sea, but the three cities I cite are easily the most important and remain the most significant commercial and industrial centers of the region to this day.

asking if anyone knew anything about the mysterious

Loos. I knew that there was a town in France named

Loos, but I knew it was unlikely that a German medal

would be designed and struck in France. Dr. Ulrich

Simon, a city official in Ltibeck was able to determine

that the medal was produced by one "G. Loos" in Berlin,

but he could add little to that. While I cannot prove

beyond a reasonable doubt that "G. Loos" had anything

to do with the Hanseatic Medal, I am prepared to make

a very convincing case that the creator was Gottfried

Bernhard Loos (1774-1843), the son of Daniel Friedrich

Loos (1735-1819), one-time General Warden of the Prussian Mint, a medal die maker and designer of coins

and medals. Moreover, he was given the title of Prussian

Court Medalist and was made a member of the Berlin

Academy. Gottfried and his brother, Friedrich (Figure 2)

are both known to have learned the art of coin and medal

making from their father. Following Dr. Simon’s lead,

I was able to learn that son Gottfried had collaborated with his father to produce more than 300 medals "of

personages, and commemorations of historical events."

Figure 1: The Hanseatic Legion Medal with the word

LOOS just below the center shield.

The medal in question was struck to commemorate the Hanseatic Legion, a military unit of about 10,000 troops, formed by the three major cities to join the German states’ fight against Napoleon from 1813 to 1814. What particularly fascinated me was the word or name Loos, which appears in block letters on the lip of the exergue on the obverse of the medal (Figure 1). All other words, or names that appear anywhere on either the obverse, or reverse of this handsome medal are printed in Gothic German, a dark, fancy, dense type face that is rarely used in modem Germany. Furtado says in his article that he was unable to identify "Mr. Loos," who is probably the artist who designed the medal.

I contacted the municipal governments in all three cities,

Figure 2: Friedrich Loos

I am indebted to officials at all three of the cities whose shields appear on the medal, especially Dr. Simon. Other bits and pieces of information came from Mr. Furtado’s 2005 article. But a particularly interesting item was inadvertently located. During the research

38 JOMSA

in connection with the artist/ medalist most probably responsible for the design of the Hanseatic Legion Medal, ! came across an interesting publication in German on the subject of fake medals and similar medallic antiques. Since much is made of the problem of fake material today, it is astonishing to stumble upon a document, really the frontispiece, or cover, for an article, or book titled The Art of Recognizing Fake Medals a work created by the designer of the Hanseatic Medal, Gottfried Bernhard Loos, published by G. Reimer in Berlin in 1828 ! [translated by the writer]. The document was stored in The Astor Library. The Astor Collection was ultimately absorbed into the New York Public Library in the late 19th century.

So here, in old Gothic German type, we find proof that almost 180 years ago, the problem of fakes bedeviled medal collectors in Prussia, and logically, everywhere else in western Europe in the first quarter of the 19th century. Fakery undoubtedly continues today, both in Europe, the United States and other countries where collectors gather medals.

Translated, the document reads:

The Art of False Medal Recognition. A book for everyone who uses it to avoid fraud. Also for numismatists and collectors of antique and modem medals; by G. B. Loos, Royal Prussian Warden General of the Mint, Knight of the Royal Swedish- Norwegian Vasa Order, Member and Correspondent of Scientific and Official Organizations, etc., with copperplate [engraving]. Berlin, 1828. By G. Reimer [Publisher]

Figure 3: The title page of the book The Art of Recognizing Fake Medals.

Bibliography:

Furtado, Russell, The Hanseatic Medal and Crosses, Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America ,Volume 56, Number 6, Nov. - Dec. 2005

Muenzen Lexikon: http://www.muenzen-lexikon.de/lexikon/1/p 110 i. html

Numispedia de Loos; http:www.numispedia.deLoos%2CGottfied bernhard.

Simon, Ulrich Dr., Ltibeck Municipal Government.

Vol. 59, No.1 39

Secretary’s Report October 2007 - November 2007

Those listed as new members have applied for 2007 membership in the Orders and Medals Society of America. If no proper written

objection to such membership is received from any member in good standing within sixty (60) days of publication, the applicant shall accordingly be admitted to membership (Article III, Section 3 of the OMSA Constitution, and Article III, Section 2 of the OMSA By-Laws). The collecting interests of each new member as provided on the membership application are shown following each new member’s address.

NEW MEMBERS - 2008

#7917- #7918- #7919-

#7920- #7921- #7922- #7923-

James W. McGunnigle (Internet), 15 Vassar Circle, Glen Echo, MD, 20812 (British & world)

Antonio Trigueiros, Rua Mariano Pina 17-10 A, 1500-442 L, Portugal

Richard Pietryka (Internet), 1400 S Joyce Street Apt #116, Arlington, VA, 22202 (Polish WW1 through the

Polish-Bolshevik War - 1918-1921

Richard Orr (Internet), 153 Connie Drive, Pittsburgh, PA, 15214

David M. Warren (Intemet), Weir House 1, Heol Isaf, Radyr CF15 8AF, Cardiff, Wales, UK

Simon Levett (Internet), PO Box 517, Fraser, CO, 80442 Jeffrey S. Niesen (Intemet), 1411 W. Pinehill Road, Spokane, WA, 99218

#7924 - Michael Barrett (Muir #7630), c/o Barrett; Burke; Wilson, 15000 Surveyor Blvd., Ste. 100, Addison, TX, 7500 t

(British Campaign medals, Lifesaving medals)

#7925 - Stephen I. Hawkins (Secretary), PO Box 2953, Everett, WA, 98213 (Soviet, Vietnam era, America)

#7926 - Edward R. Rowan (Internet), 1 Compton Road, New Hartford, NY, 13413-2408 (British & world)

IN MEMORY

Johnson, Richard M., #7362, 630 Masselin Avenue Apt. 315, Los Angeles, CA, 90036 (Mr. Johnson, former OMSA General Counsel, passed away November 4, 2007.)

Kemper, Paul R., #4974, 815 Iroquois Avenue, Louisville, KY, 40214-1230

(The Secretary was informed that Mr. Kemper passed away May 27, 2007.)

ADDRESS CHANGES & CORRECTIONS

Alones, Vincent W., # 1381, 5200 Wedgewood Road, Lynchburg, VA, 24503 Behrouzi, Siamak, #5331, 1190 South Arlington Hts Road, Elk Grove Village, IL, 60007

Borg, Axel E., #7452, 308 Bridge Place, West Sacramento, CA, 95691-4609

Canadian War Museum Library, #5387, 1 Vimy Place, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0MS, Canada

Carlson, Christopher, #7730, 5284 Calle Granada, Sierra Vista, AZ, 85635-8272

Cerlenko, Greg, #6288, 2032 Thomecroft Lane, Roseville, CA, 95747 Coming J~:USAR (Ret), COL Stuart S.,#1567, 303 Brooksby Village Dr.Unit 624, Peabody, MA, 01960

Forrester, Charles C., #6813, 142 La Mesa Drive, Burlingame, CA, 94010-5920

Gelhaar, Jean-Claude, #5549, 113, Rue de Courcelles, 75017 Paris, France Hacker, Carl E., #6079, 1632 Bristol Avenue #501, State College, PA, 16801 Hodges, Claude W., #6242, 6170 A1A S Unit 301, Saint Augustine, FL, 32080-7537 Honken, Daniel C., #7289, 7812 La Vista, NE, 68128-3028 Hyndman, William L., #2494, 534 Melvins Road, Telford, PA, 18969-2101

Ives, Geoffrey P., #7679, P.O. Box 2227, Bremerton, WA, 98310

Maren J.D., Peter A., #7638, 545 Plainfield Road Ste. A, Willowbrook, IL, 60527-7601 Matz, Mark V., #3665, 6749 Dempster Street, Morton Grove, IL, 60053-2607

McCombs, Don L., #5942, 1446 Chelsea Way, Livermore, CA, 94550 Netzley, Richard D., #3457, 5524 Descartes Circle, Boynton Beach, FL, 33472 Schott, Richard L., #3559, 429 Canyon Avenue, Ft. Collins, CO, 80521

Self, Richard, #2069, 743 Hartford Street, Richland, WA, 99354-1681 Stever, Martin A., #7092, Box 582; 321 High School Road NE, Ste D3, Bainbridge Island, WA, 98110-2648

Stewart, C. Britt, #7806, PO Box 20157, Atlanta, GA, 30325-0157

40 JOMSA