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Silver Medal: Lodge Absalom Hamburg 1740

Date:- 1740 - Classification:- Lodge/Chapter Etc.; Members

Country of Origin:- Germany - Province/Region/District:- Hamburg

Order:- Craft (& Freemasonry General)

Description

A lodge was chartered in 1733 at Hamburg, Germany by the Earl of Strathmore, Grand Master of England, which did not commence work ‘till December 6th, 1737; re-warranted, apparently, in 1740 as No. 108, and in 1741 assumed the name “Absalom.” The Senate of Hamburg forbade the members from attending the meetings, and, in consequence, this medal was struck. Engraved in Marvin’s “Medals of the Masonic Fraternity,” Boston, U.S.A., 1880, plate 2, figure II. ; in “Numotheca Numismatica Latomorum,” by Ernst Zacharias (1840-6), book 2, plate 2; in Bode’s Almanack for 1777, plate 3; and in the “American Quarterly Review” (1859), page 484. There have been re-strikes of this medal from modern dies, but this example is an original (see Marvin’s Notes and Corrections,page 286). Very rare, in perfect condition, as it is generally found much worn. The Essen catalogue gives its date as 1740, which Merzdorf confirms.

OBVERSE.—The rising sun and moon, shining upon the earth from opposite directions. Legend, “Facius Supremi Eadem” (The face of God is unchanging). In exergue, “Hamburgi.” REVERSE.—Arms of the Masons (3 castles and square) upon a shield; a ribbon, to which is suspended a Master’s jewel, hangs over it; a hat is upon the upper left corner. In the border of the shield, in very small letters, “A. B.” Behind the shield are the rays of the meridian sun, and a square, compasses, gavel, and level are grouped about it. On the square, in small letters, “D. H. Fecit,” referring to Haslingk, the die-sinker.