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XXXVIII. 
 
 ALCHEMICAL MEDALS. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 Alchemy to Numismatics 
 
 By HENRY CARRINGTON BOLTON, Ph. D. 
 
 READ BEFORE THE NEW YORK NUMISMATIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, DEC. 5, I J 
 
 AUTHOR'S EDITION. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 1890. 
 
.** 
 
 o 
 
 r^\ 
 
 One Hundred and Seventy-Five Copies. 
 
 Reprinted from the American Journal of Numismatics. 
 
 
PRELUDE 
 
 EAD is worth about five cents per pound and gold about three hundred 
 dollars per pound or six thousand times as much. Even though the 
 process be costly, the conversion of the base metal into the precious one 
 would yield a fabulous profit. This transformation has been accomplished by the few 
 who have discovered or inherited the precious secret ; to attain it the only requisites 
 are industry and piety, therefore we shall devote our lives to the undertaking. 
 
 Such was at once the creed and the goal of the alchemists for more than five 
 centuries. Is it possible to imagine a more attractive belief, a more enticing occupa- 
 tion ? 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 NUMISMATICS. 
 
 HE doctrine of the transmutation of metals prevailed 
 in many nations at an early period of their intellectual 
 development. It seems to have been an outgrowth of 
 primitive notions concerning the constitution of matter, 
 one element or principle being regarded as fundamental 
 and capable of giving birth to the others. Water, air, 
 fire and earth were severally regarded as the first prin- 
 ciples of all things by Greek philosophers, and these 
 four were adopted by Aristotle. He held, moreover, that these elements are 
 mutually convertible, each having two qualities, one of which was common 
 to some other element. Thus he wrote : 
 
 Fire is hot and dry. 
 Air is hot and moist. 
 Water is cold and moist. 
 Earth is cold and dry. 
 
 In each element one quality was dominant, and by changing the propor- 
 tions of the qualities, one element could be changed into the other. This 
 
6 CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 doctrine was afterwards extended to metallic bodies, and a race of alchemists 
 began to investigate it experimentally. We do not read of attempts to 
 change Qold into silver, nor either of these metals into lead, for avarice acted 
 as a mighty stimulus in advancing the inquiry, and a false philosophy sus- 
 tained it through many hundred years. 
 
 In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the belief in the possibility of 
 converting lead into gold and silver was well-nigh universal, and the pursuit 
 of alchemy was followed by persons in every station of life ; physicians vainly 
 hoping to discover the Elixir of Life, merchants and tradesmen seeking a 
 short road to riches, peasants and noblemen, beggars and princes with whom 
 avarice was a common motive, each and all courted the fascinating folly. 
 The belief was not confined to the ignorant and unlearned, but w T as held by 
 the men of science, the theologians, the warriors, and the statesmen of that 
 period. Some who professed to have accomplished the " great work," as 
 the transmutation was called, were undoubtedly self-deceived, owing to the 
 occurrence of certain phenomena which modern chemists have no difficulty 
 in explaining, but which to the experimenters of the Middle Ages seemed 
 conclusive proofs of the wonderful transformation. On the other hand there 
 were many unprincipled impostors who gained a precarious livelihood by 
 pretending to a knowledge of the hermetic art, and who practiced their 
 profession at the bidding and costs of wealthy and credulous devotees of 
 Mammon. These hired laborers in alchemy, anxious to maintain their 
 reputation and to please their patrons, fostered this belief by many tricks 
 and clever impostures. The learned and crafty Dr. John Dee, who enjoyed 
 the patronage of both Rudolph II, the Emperor of Germany, and of Queen 
 Elizabeth of England, when about to seek favors from the latter, sent her 
 a small disc of gold which he claimed to have made by hermetic art from 
 a copper warming-pan ; and shortly afterwards Dee forwarded to the Queen, 
 as an unimpeachable witness, the warming-pan itself, having a hole in the 
 copper bottom of the exact size of the piece of gold. 
 
 Leonhard Thurneysser, a noted German physician and alchemist, on the 
 20th of November, 1586, in Rome, performed a miracle with a common iron 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 7 
 
 nail ; the nail was dipped into the melted philosopher's stone, and the iron so 
 far as immersed was transmuted into gold. All of which was solemnly testified 
 to by a Cardinal of the Church ; besides, was not the nail itself, half iron and 
 half gold, a tangible witness convincing to the most skeptical ? 
 
 Believers in the transmutation of metals had however far more satisfac- 
 tory and authoritative evidences than these questionable specimens, to which 
 they could point with assurance ; these were the medals and coins of silver and 
 of gold, duly stamped with the records of the transmutation, commemorating 
 the power of the adept and honoring his noble patron. The number of these 
 hermetic rarities in numismatics is surprisingly large ; to catalogue them all 
 would be no easy task ; we herein describe forty-three pieces mentioned in 
 literature or preserved in cabinets abroad. 
 
 The chief source of information concerning hermetic numismatics is a 
 scarce little quarto published at Kiel in 1692 by Samuel Reyher, and bearing 
 the title " De Nummis quibusdam ex chymico metallo factis." It is a disser- 
 tation presented to the Faculty of Jurisprudence of the University. In its 
 144 pages it includes thirty-seven chapters ; the titles of the first five are as 
 follows: Cap. 1. De Nummis Aureis. II. De Nummis Argenteis. III. De 
 AEnigmatibus nonnullis Chymicis. IV. De Auro ex Auripigmento. V. De 
 AELgyptiorum Chrysopceia et de Aureo Vellere. 
 
 As may be inferred from these allusions to the " Enigmas of Chemistry," 
 and to the "Alchemy of the Egyptians and the Golden Fleece," the author 
 was imbued with the credulous spirit that pervaded all branches of philosophy 
 and science at that period. He writes as a historian, but is not thorough, 
 since he fails to catalogue many pieces existing prior to his time. 
 
 In the first two chapters, on gold and silver coins respectively, he gives 
 representations of five gold and four silver pieces, besides naming some others. 
 These will be described in their chronological place. We may be pardoned 
 for remarking that Reyher lived and wrote about a century too soon, for after 
 his day a much larger number of these evidences of transmutation and credu- 
 lity appeared, which would have greatly added to the size and interest of his 
 essay. 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 Additional information is found in the works of J. David Kohler (JTzsto- 
 rischer Munzbelustigungen* Niirnberg, 1729- 1750, 24 vols.), David Samuel 
 Madai {J'ollstaendiges Thaler- Cabinet. Kbnigsberg, 1765), Schulthess-Rech- 
 berg {Thaler- Cabinet Wien, 1840, 3 vols.), and other numismatic treatises: 
 our chief reliance, however, is on works that belong rather to an alchemical 
 than to a numismatic library ; these we shall mention in passing. 1 
 
 I. (13th Century). — Among the earliest of the coins, whose undisputed 
 existence was regarded as visible proof of hermetic labors, were the so-called 
 Rose nobles made from gold artificially prepared by Raymund Lully. This 
 celebrated alchemist (1235—13 15) was invited by Edward II, King of England, 
 about the year 13 12, to visit his realm; on his arrival he was furnished with 
 apartments in the Tower of London, where he transmuted base metals into 
 gold ; this was afterwards coined at the mint into six millions of nobles, each 
 worth more than three pounds sterling. These Rose, or Raymund nobles as 
 they were also called, were well known to the antiquarians of the sixteenth 
 century, and were reputed to be of finer gold than any other gold coin of that 
 day. On the obverse of these coins is represented in a very rude fashion a 
 ship floating on the sea decorated with a royal ensign and carrying the king, 
 who bears in his right hand a naked sword and on his left arm a shield. 
 Around this design: edward d[e]i gra[tia] rex angl[le] z franc [iae] 
 d[omi]n[u]s ib[ernle]. (Edward by the grace of God King of England 
 and France, Lord of Ireland.) 
 
 On the reverse a conventional rose surrounded by four lions and ducal 
 crowns, alternating with four lilies. The inscription on the outer circle reads : 
 jhs. aut. [em] transiens. per. medium illor. [um] ibat. (But Jesus passing 
 through the midst of them went His way.) St. Luke iv : 30. (Wiegleb, Unter- 
 such. Alchemie. Weimar, 1777, p. 217.) 
 
 r Since my first paper on ' Alchemy and Numismatics ' In the preparation of this article, Mr. Lyman H. Low, 
 
 {Amer. Journal of Numismatics, XXI, p. 73;, Mr. David of New York, granted me the use of his library, and 
 
 L. Walter, one of the Vice Presidents of the American made several bibliographical suggestions; his courtesy 
 
 Numismatic and Archaeological Society, has contrib- and kindness I thankfully acknowledge, 
 
 uted some notes on the subject, including a brief list of The valued communication of Dr. Hans Riggauer, 
 
 authorities. To this communication I am indebted for of Munich, I acknowledge elsewhere, 
 a few points. 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 9 
 
 Rose nobles are figured by Lenglet du Fresnoy in his Histoire de la 
 Philosophie Hermetique (Paris, 1 741 , Vol. II, p. 8.), who remarks, "They 
 are less rare in the north of England than in the capital ; one of my friends 
 had several, some of which weighed ten ducats." 2 These coins are said to 
 have been worn as amulets to preserve from danger in battle, and to have 
 been used as touch pieces in connection with the gift of healing by royal 
 touch. (Pettigrew, Superstition in Medicine and Surgery. London, 1844, 
 p. 129.) 
 
 Lully himself, in his " Last Testament," declares that while in London he 
 converted twenty-two tons' weight of quicksilver, lead and tin, into gold. 
 This relation is vouched for by Cremer, Abbot of Westminster (Maier's Tri- 
 pus Aureus. Francofurti, 16 18, p. 183), and the Raymund nobles are described 
 by William Camden, the English antiquary {Britannia sive regnorum Anglice 
 descriptio, 1586), and by John Selden {Mare Clausum, 1635). Robert 
 Constantine, in his History of Medicine (1545), states that he found public 
 documents confirming the report that Lully made gold in the Tower by order 
 of the King, and Dr. Edmund Dickenson relates that the workmen who 
 removed the cloister which Lully occupied at Westminster found some of the 
 powder, by which they enriched themselves. Historians who do not believe 
 in transmutation, point out chronological discrepancies which throw doubts 
 on the pretensions of Raymund Lully. (See Wiegleb, op. cit.) 
 
 The alchemists clothed their writings in a mystical, enigmatical lan- 
 guage, and illustrated them with very extraordinary symbols and hieroglyphs, 
 only a part of which are decipherable ; whether the remainder really had any 
 rational significance is doubtful. These symbols included those used in 
 common to designate the seven known planets and the seven known metals, 
 an association that dates from the first centuries of the Christian era ; they 
 were in general use in alchemical manuscripts and printed books for several 
 
 2 Numismatists classify Rose nobles into the old (Kohler, Vol. VI, 327 ; Kenyon's Gold Coins of Eng- 
 
 and new, the former being coined prior to 1500. Some land, p. 17. Also Ruding's Annals of the Coinage of 
 
 of them bear the image of arose resembling a star with Great Britain, London, 1840, which reviews the alchem- 
 
 long points and crowned, others the image of a ship (as istical legend of Lully.) 
 above); the latter are also known as ship-nobles. 
 
io CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 centuries, and hence are naturally found on coins and medals whose history 
 is connected with transmutation. 3 
 
 Symbol. 
 
 Metal. 
 
 Planet. 
 
 Symbol. 
 
 Metal. 
 
 Planet. 
 
 o 
 
 Gold 
 
 Sun 
 
 U 
 
 Tin 
 
 Jupiter 
 
 D 
 
 Silver 
 
 Moon 
 
 $ 
 
 Iron 
 
 Mars 
 
 ? 
 
 Copper 
 
 Venus 
 
 9 
 
 Mercury 
 
 Mercury 
 
 h 
 
 Lead 
 
 Saturn 
 
 t 
 
 Antimony (added later) . 
 
 Alchemists attempted to explain chemical facts known to them, and 
 especially the constitution of bodies by this theory: All bodies, they said, are 
 made up of three elementary principles named and symbolized thus : ^ Sul- 
 phur, volatility ; G Salt, fixedness ; £ Mercury, metallicity. This mercury 
 they distinguished from the metal by calling it the " Philosophical Mercury." 
 All bodies are formed of these imaginary principles combined in various ways, 
 and the predominance of any one determined the degree of volatility, of 
 fixedness in fire, or of metallicity. Thus gold, they argued, had little sulphur 
 and much salt and mercury, while lead had much sulphur, no salt, and a large 
 share of mercury. They further believed that by changing the proportions of 
 these principles one metal might be transmuted into another ; thus to convert 
 lead into gold, it was necessary to remove its sulphur, increase its metallicity, 
 add salt, and change its color. Besides these the literature of alchemy 
 abounds in curious signs ; every substance, every apparatus, and every 
 operation (such as fusion, distillation and filtration,) had its appropriate sign ; 
 some were pictorial and abbreviative, some symbolical, but the majority were 
 arbitrary. (Bolton, Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sciences, Dec, 1882, and March, 
 1883.) A mere catalogue of them fills a book of many pages; the Alche- 
 mistisches Oraculum, (Ulm, 1772,) contains over 2,000 such symbols. 
 
 In their writings the alchemists further used metaphors to denote mate- 
 rials and operations. Thus nitre (saltpetre) was a "venomous worm," a 
 " scorpion " and a " dragon ; " antimony was a " wolf" (lupus rnetalloruiri)', sal 
 
 3 Modern Numismatists, I am informed, use the fol- Vorsten, 1735, \r Gravenhage, 3 vols, folio), uses the 
 
 lowing abbreviations for the metals indicated : A r gold, first five symbols in the preceding table for the re- 
 
 JR silver, Ld lead, W M or w m white metal, B brass, spective metals in connection with the engravings. 
 
 T tin, N nickel. Van Mieris, in his handsome work on Also Schulthess and others, 
 the Coins of the Netherlands {Histori der Nederlandsche 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. n 
 
 ammoniac an "eagle;" and pictorial representations of these objects were 
 employed to designate the underlying chemical facts. Hence lead, being 
 Saturn, was represented by this god of mythology, usually as the Greek 
 Chronos, or Father Time, with his wooden leg and a scythe and hour-glass. 
 
 This enigmatical method of expression is quite common in the manu- 
 scripts and books of certain authors. The works of Michael Maier, 4 physician 
 to Rudolph II of Germany, and of Basil Valentine, an obscure (perhaps 
 mythical) monk of the 15th century, afford striking examples. 
 
 These symbols, hieroglyphs and pictorial metaphors, enter into the 
 designs of the gold and silver pieces coined to commemorate " the great 
 work," thus giving them a character at once significant and easily recognizable. 
 
 Metallic talismans also frequently contain the symbols of the seven 
 metals, signs of the zodiac and magical characters, but these are devoid of 
 true alchemical association, and form no part of our study. The curious may 
 consult the plates in the third volume of Appel's Repertorium zur Munzkunde 
 des Mittelalters (Wien, 1824;) also the essay on Medallic Amulets and 
 Talismans by David L. Walter, in Proceedings Am. Numismatic and Archaeo- 
 logical Society of New York, for 1886. (p. 38.) 
 
 II. (1604). — A good example of the fantastic representations mentioned 
 is the piece dated 1604, figured by Reyher in the work named (p. 15). 
 
 Obverse. Rude figures of the four animals of prophecy, the lion, the 
 calf, the man and the eagle (Rev. iv. 7) supporting in their midst a spotted 
 fleece. Above these are three crowns ; on the first rests a young man hold- 
 ing a sword in one hand and a cross in the other ; on the second rests an old 
 bearded man wearing a pointed helmet and holding the Reichsapfel or Imperial 
 Globe ; on the third crown rests a dove. Around these symbolic figures of 
 the three persons of the Trinity are the words : 
 
 Tria mirabil.[ia.] 
 Deus et homo. 
 Trin.[us] et UN. [us.] 
 Mater et virgo. 
 
 4 Atalanta fugiens, Oppenheim, 1618; Symbola au- darium chymicum by Stolcius de Stolcenburg, Franco- 
 rece metises duodecim, Francofurti, 1617. Also: Viri- iurti, 1624. Long 121110. 
 
12 CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 (Three marvels : God and man : three and one : mother and virgin. ) This 
 inscription is found also on other coins of hermetic association. 
 
 On the Reverse, in the centre, a conventional and modified symbol 
 oi mercury supports a pelican feeding its young ; within the lower circle of 
 the symbol stands an eagle. The lower part of the symbol is made up 
 of $ (copper), the centre of £ (antimony), and the top of the caduceus of 
 Mercury, intertwined. On the right stands a young man holding in one 
 hand the symbol ^ (sulphur), and in the other a nondescript object: on the 
 left stands a young woman, holding $ (mercury) in one hand and a cornu- 
 copia in the other. The inscription reads : above the figures, ess[entia] una 
 (One essence); below the same, ritrt. g. i. w. and lower down sic volvere 
 fata (Thus the fates have decided.) Beneath is 1604. Around an outer 
 circle, natur[a] un[ita] usu r[e]nata modo tot [a], T? fueram, nunc 
 clar[issimum] exto. (Originally one in my nature, now entirely regenerated, 
 I was lead, behold me most brilliant gold.) Silver, oval. 
 
 III. 161 7. — Samuel Reyher, in the work described, says he possesses 
 through the liberality of Dr. Johann Ludolph Ringelmann a golden piece 
 which he shows in a wood-cut without giving its history. Its description is as 
 follows : — Obverse. Figures of a man and a woman apparently in a savage 
 state on either side of an ornamented shield ; the inscription around the outer 
 circle is : mo. [neta] no. [va] argentea civitatis ereford. (New silver 
 coinage of the city of Erfurt.) 
 
 On the reverse a shield quartered like a coat of arms surmounted by a 
 cherub's head in clouds, with the date 16 17 and the signs £ (sulphur of the 
 alchemists), and $ (mercury). Around the edge the inscription: date caes- 
 aris caesari et cole dei deo. (Matthew xxii : 21. Render therefore unto 
 Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.) 
 fKohler, [J. D.] op. cit., Vol. 21, p. 65. Madai, No. 2219.) 
 
 Two specimens of this Erfurt thaler of 161 7 are preserved in the Royal 
 Bavarian Cabinet of Coins, Munich, as I learn from Dr. Hans Riggauer. 
 
 IV. Another coin of the same date is briefly mentioned by Tenzel. It 
 was stamped with a phoenix, and beneath this fabulous bird the words in 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 13 
 
 terris rarissima sed tamen. (Most rare in the earth, yet nevertheless I do 
 exist.) The origin of this coin was unknown to him. (For Tenzel, see coin 
 of 1687 below.) 
 
 V. (1622.) — Dr. George Wolfgang Wedel, Professor of Medicine in the 
 University of Jena in 1673, member of learned societies, and court physician, 
 was a frequent contributor to alchemical literature. Of unimpeachable 
 character, his assertions were of great weight among his compeers. Wedel 
 (also called Wedelius) describes a silver piece struck by the city of Erfurt, of 
 the date 1622, and distinguished by the characters^ (sulphur) and $ (mer- 
 cury) . The full description is as follows : 
 
 Obverse. mo[neta] no[va] arg[entea] civit[atis] erfford. 1622. 
 (New silver coinage of the city of Erfurt, 1622) surrounding a wheel with 
 scrolls, and the signs ^ and £ (sulphur and mercury.) 
 
 Reverse. The arms of the city of Erfurt and the inscription : nach dem 
 alten schrot und korn. (Of standard weight and fineness.) 
 
 Wedel, however, points out that in 1622 there were two masters of the 
 mint in Erfurt named Ziegler and Weismantel, and the latter to distinguish 
 his coinage from that of the former, employed the well-known signs given, 
 without any intention of attaching to them a hermetic meaning (Reyher, p. 6 ; 
 Buddeus, §21). To this category obviously belong the German coins of the 
 fourth century mentioned by Reyher. Dr. Hans Riggauer informs me that 
 three specimens of the Weismantel coins are preserved in the Royal Bavarian 
 Cabinet, Munich. 
 
 VI. (IV Century.) Quoting Tilemann's Munz- Spiegel, (1. 3. c. 4 
 /. 91,) Reyher says : At that time it came to pass that the people had coins, 
 but the most of them were thin and hollow {hole) for the convenience of the 
 common people. Afterwards the Kings and Princes [in Germany] coined 
 silver and gold pieces, but of small value, from 20 to 25 Eschen, like the 
 Roman Semis and Tremis. The gold, however, was of unequal fineness, 
 some, perhaps the most ancient, being of 22 carats, some of 18 and others, 
 perhaps the most recent, of 12 carats. These had busts of various monarchs 
 on one side and on the other a figure of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, 
 
1 4 COXTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 holding- the symbol $ in his hands ; that is to say the upper part of the sign 
 reversed s in his right hand, and the cross + in his left : from this it appears 
 that the coins were struck by the Suabian rulers, for as Tacitus remarked, 
 Mercurius was specially honored by the Suabians. So far, Tilemann. 
 
 A poorly executed and diminutive woodcut in Reyher's work shows the 
 coin as above described, and an almost undecipherable inscription. 
 
 The alchemists sought the philosopher's stone in the three kingdoms of 
 nature, animal, vegetable and mineral ; but the chief object of their efforts 
 was the liqvid metal, quicksilver ; this had great weight, and the paradoxical 
 property of fluidity ; they argued that if it could be changed to a yellow color 
 and " fixed," that is, deprived of its fluidity, it would become gold. Mercury, 
 therefore, is constantly symbolized on the hermetic coins, but to claim every 
 coin as proof of transmutation that has the impress $ is obviously absurd. 
 
 Josef Neumann {Beschreibung der bekanntesten Kupfermunzen. Prag, 
 1858) names several coins bearing the symbol for copper ? to indicate the 
 metal of which struck. Nos. 2649 and 2650 are of the date 1767, and were 
 coined by Stanislaus, King of Poland. A third copper coin named by Neu- 
 mann (1203 a) bears the symbols 4 O ^ on one of three shields. This is 
 an Austrian coin of the year 1652. We merely note these in passing, as addi- 
 tional pieces in evidence that the planetary symbols were used by mint-mas- 
 ters without any thought of attaching to them an alchemical significance. 
 
 VII. (1630). — A silver thaler of handsome design, coined in Mainz, is 
 catalogued by Madai as alchemical, probably because it is stamped w r ith the 
 symbol £. 
 
 Obverse. A portrait bust of Anselm Casimir (Elector and Archbishop 
 of Mainz) wearing a standing collar, with the words : anselmi casimiri d. [ei] 
 g.[ratia] archiep[iscopi] mog[untinensis] s.[acri] rom[ani] im[perii] per. 
 germ[aniam] arch [i] can [cellarii] p[rincipis] e[lectoris.] (Anselm Casi- 
 mir, by the grace of God Archbishop of Mainz, Arch-chancellor, Prince and 
 Elector of the Holy Roman Empire.) 
 
 Reverse. The Prince's arms with three helmets and archbishop's staff and 
 sword. Inscription, moneta nova argentea moguntina. 1630. d. §. (New 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 15 
 
 silver coinage of Mainz. 1630). The sign d. $ is believed to be that of the 
 mint-master. This piece occurs in two styles, round and eight-cornered. 
 (Madai, No. 402.) 
 
 VIII. (1634.) — Several gold and silver coins stamped with the effigy of 
 Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, or with his royal arms, are regarded by 
 alchemists as evidence of transmutation, their claim being based on the cir- 
 cumstance that the coins bear the venerated hermetic signs for mercury £ 
 and sulphur &. John F. Buddeus and other historians do not consider this 
 claim valid, and attribute the designs to the fancy of the royal coiner. ( His- 
 torisch und p litis c he Unter sue hung von der Alchemie, in Roth-Scholtz 
 Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum, Erster Theil. Nurnberg, 1728.) 
 
 Reyher, quoting the traveler Monconys (Itin. part II, p. 381), relates the 
 following circumstances : 
 
 " The apothecary, Strobelperger, told me that a certain merchant of 
 Lubeck, not very successful in business, yet who knew how to 'fix' lead and 
 to convert it into gold, presented to the King of Sweden, then traveling in 
 Pomerania, a mass of gold weighing one hundred pounds, prepared by himself 
 through hermetic art. Gustavus Adolphus caused ducats to be made of this 
 gold, bearing his likeness on one side and the royal arms with the characters 
 for mercury and sulphur on the other. He gave me (continues Monconys) 
 one of these ducats and said that after the death of the merchant, who 
 did not seem to be very wealthy, and had long since discontinued trade, 
 one million seven hundred thousand crowns were found in his house." 
 (Reyher, Cap. i,p. 4.) The coins referred to are figured by Reyher and by 
 Buddeus : 
 
 Obverse. Bust of Gustavus Adolphus, head in profile crowned with a 
 wreath; around the edge the inscription: gustav[us] adolph[us] d[ei] 
 g[ratia] suec[orum] goth[orum] vand[alorum] r[ex]. (Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, by the grace of God, King of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals). 
 
 Reverse. The royal arms of Sweden, with £ and $ on either side, and 
 the date 1634. On the edge the inscription : pr[inceps] finl[andiae] dux 
 ethon[le] et carel[le] dom[inus] inger [mannle] . (Prince of Finland, 
 
1 6 CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 Duke of Esthonia and of Carelia, Lord of Ingria). The size of the coin is 
 given by Reyher in a circle 22 mm. in diameter. 
 
 IX. (1632.) — A double ducat of Gustavus Adolphus of the date 1632 
 is also claimed by the votaries of Hermes. This gold coin has on the obverse 
 a human skull resting on a bone ; out of the skull issue serpents, together 
 with a grape-vine, on the branches of which hang many clusters of 
 o-rapes. Around this emblem is the inscription: ezech.[iel] am. xxxvii 
 cap. [itel] und am. vi November 1632. (Ezekiel, Chapter $j, and on 
 November 6th, 1632.) In an outer circle the words: gustavus adolphus d. 
 g. suec. goth. vand. re *. (Gustavus Adolphus, by the grace of God King 
 of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals.) 
 
 Reverse. The royal arms of Sweden, with the year 1633, and the signs 
 for sulphur ^ and mercury § on either side. Around this : dv men[s]ch 
 [en] kind meinst auch dass di[e]se beine wid[er]leben werd[en]. (O 
 son of man, believest thou that these bones will live again). And in an 
 outer circle: pr[inceps] finl[andle] dux ethon[le] et carel[le] dom 
 [inus] inge[rmannle.] (Prince of Finland, Duke of Esthonia and Carelia, 
 Lord of Ingria.) The reference to Ezekiel, chapter 37, relates to the vision 
 of the dry bones, to which the alchemists gave a mysterious hermetic interpre- 
 tation. (Joh. Heinr. Scheler, Beschreibung derer zu Ehren des Koenigs in 
 Schweden, Gustavi Adolphi, mit dem Signo Sulphur is et Mercurii 1632 zu 
 Erfurt gepraegten zweierlei Thalern, etc. In Hirschius [J. C], Bibliotheca 
 numismatica. Norimb. 1760. Reyher, op. cit. p. 9. Madai, No. 218.) 
 
 X. (163 1.) — A third coin of silver by Gustavus Adolphus has on the 
 obverse the Tetragrammaton mm or sacred name of Jehovah in Hebrew 
 characters within rays of glory, and beneath this are the words : a domino 
 factum est istud. (By the Lord has this been done.) 
 
 Reverse. The inscription in eleven lines : deo ter optimo | maximo 
 
 GLORIA ET LAUS I QUI GUSTAVO ADOLPHO | SUECORUM GOTHORUM | VAND[aLORUm] 
 QUE REGI CONTRA I CAESAREANUM AC I LIGISTICUM EXERCITUM | VICTORIAM TRI- 
 
 buit, I ad lipsiam die | vii sept, anno m. d. c. xxxi. (Glory and praise 
 be to God, thrice best and greatest, who gave the victory to Gustavus Adol- 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 17 
 
 phus, King of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals, against the imperial army and 
 the Ligistians at Leipzig on the seventh day of Sept. 163 1.) Beneath this 
 inscription is the character £ (mercury), but Reyher, who gives a represen- 
 tation of the coin, remarks that this sign probably denotes the day of the week 
 (Wednesday) and not the metal that formed the basis of hermetical operations. 
 
 The Royal Cabinet of Coins of Bavaria, at Munich, possesses several 
 examples of these Gustavus Adolphus pieces, to wit : Of the 1634 ducat, six 
 pieces ; of the double ducat of 1633 in silver, one piece ; of the thaler of 1631, 
 one piece ; also two of the same date without the symbol, and one golden 
 piece of this coinage. Dr. Hans Riggauer, Director of the Cabinet, to whom 
 we are greatly indebted for a list of the alchemical treasures preserved in 
 Munich, also mentions an Erfurt double thaler, of the date 1631. 
 
 Obverse. The signs A and § in a decorated coat of arms, and Gustavus 
 Adolphus ascending to heaven in a two-horse chariot. 
 
 Reverse. Gustavus Adolphus on a bed of state. (See Schulthess, 2048.) 
 
 XI. (1647). — The pursuit of alchemy does not appear to have been 
 followed in Denmark at so early a period as elsewhere. Christian IV, who 
 ascended the throne in 1588, (died, 1648) had in his employ an alchemist 
 named Kaspar Harbach, who had the very useful knowledge of transmuting 
 the products of Norwegian mines into gold ; Danish ducats of 1644 an d 1646, 
 were shown, which were said to have been made of artificial gold. Some per- 
 sons, however, were incredulous, and to vindicate the honor of his private 
 alchemist, King Christian caused new ducats to be coined. These bear on the 
 obverse a full length figure of the King in armor, surmounted by the words : 
 christianus, d. [ei] g. [ratia] dan. [le] r. [ex] . (Christian IV, by the grace 
 of God King of Denmark). The reverse has a rather large pair of spectacles 
 and the legend: vide mira domi[ni]. 1647. (See the wonderful works 
 of the Lord ). (Figured in Kohler's Miinzbelustigungen, Theil xii : p. 145, 
 1740). 
 
 XII. (1647). — In the same year an adept named J. P. Hofmann per- 
 formed a transmutation in the presence of the Emperor Ferdinand III, in 
 Nuremberg. From this hermetic gold the Emperor caused a medal of rare 
 
18 CONTRIBUTIONS OF AICHEMY 
 
 beauty to be struck. It is figured in the work of an anonymous author 
 entitled : Nutzliche Versuche und Bermerkungen aus dem Reiche der Natur" 
 and published by Georg Bauer in Nuremberg in 1760. This exceedingly rare 
 piece bears on the obverse two shields in one of which are eight fleurs-de-lis, 
 and in the other a crowned lion highly conventionalized. In an outer circle 
 occur the words : lilia cum niveo copulantur fulva leone, and in an 
 inner circle : sic leo mansuescet, sic lilia fulva virescent. 1647. (The 
 yellow lilies lie down with the snow white lion ; thus the lion will be tamed, 
 thus the yellow lilies will flourish). The two shields are linked above by a 
 crown, over which are the letters 1. p. h. v. n. f., denoting: — Johannes 
 petrus hofmann vasallus norimbergensis fecit ; and on the right the letters 
 t. g. v. l., denoting: tincture gutlf v. libram, which refer to the fact (?) 
 that five drops of the " tincture " transmuted a whole pound of the base metal. 
 This power of the tincture is also indicated by the letters v. G., (quinque 
 guttae^) that appear between the two shields below. 
 
 On the reverse, in the centre is a circle containing the figure of the war- 
 rior Mars holding the symbol S in one hand and a sword in the other, and 
 surrounded by the inscription : arma furens capiam rursusque in praelia 
 surgam. (Enraged I shall take up my arms and again rush into the battle.) 
 This refers to the circumstance that the active agent in transmutation was 
 made in this case from iron. Around this central circle are six smaller ones ; 
 the first contains the symbol for lead T?, with the words a marte ligor. (By Mars 
 am I bound.) The second, that for tin If, with the words a marte defexdor. 
 (By Mars I am protected.) The third, the sign for copper 9 , and the words 
 marte conjungor. (By Mars I am united.) The fourth, the sign for mercury 
 2, and the words pedib[us] mars, ars scidit alas. (Mars goes on his feet, art 
 has torn away his wings.) The fifth, the sign for silver ([, and the words mar- 
 tis horrore deficio. (I am slain by the fear of Mars.) The sixth circle con- 
 tains the symbol of gold with the words a marte obscuror. (I am hidden 
 by Mars. The hermetic meaning of "Mars" being iron, as already men- 
 tioned.) George Bauer, describing this handsome medal in 1760, says it 
 is preserved in His Imperial Majesty's Cabinet of Coins, Vienna. 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 19 
 
 XIII. (1648.) — The Thirty Years' war was brought to a happy conclu- 
 sion by the Emperor Ferdinand III at the treaty of Westphalia, on October 
 24, 1648. In January of the same year the Emperor found time in spite of 
 his cares of State to experiment with the fascinating art of Hermes. A certain 
 Richthausen, who claimed to have received the power of projection from an 
 adept now dead, performed a transmutation in the presence of the Emperor 
 and of the Count of Rutz, director of mines. All the precautions suggested 
 by experience with imposters were observed, and with one grain of 
 the powder furnished by Richthausen, two and a half pounds of mercury were 
 changed into gold. To commemorate this event the Emperor had a medal 
 struck of the value of 300 ducats, appropriately inscribed. The obverse con- 
 tained a full-length representation of Apollo with rays proceeding from his 
 head ; in one hand he held the lyra and in the other the caduceus ; his feet 
 were covered with winged sandals, thus personifying the transmutation of 
 mercury into gold. Above and below the figure were the words : divina 
 
 METAMORPHOSIS EXHIBITA PRAGUE XV JAN. AO. MDCXLVIII IN PR^ESENTIA SAC. 
 
 caes. majest. ferdinandi TERTii. (The Divine Metamorphosis, exhibited at 
 Prague, January 15, 1648, in the presence of his Imperial Majesty Ferdinand 
 the Third.) 
 
 On the reverse there was no ornamentation, and the words : raris itec 
 
 UT HOMINIBUS EST ARS ITA RARO IN LUCEM PRODIT. LAUDETUR DEUS IN STER- 
 NUM QUI PARTEM SU/E INFINITE POTENTLY NOBIS SUIS ABIECTISSIMIS CREATURIS 
 
 communicat. (Like as rare men have this art, so cometh it very rarely to 
 light. Praised be God forever, who doth communicate a part of His infinite 
 power to us His most abject creatures.) The size of this medal is given as 2 1 
 Wurtemberg inches in diameter, and f in thickness. It was still to be seen at 
 the Treasury in Vienna in 1797 ; it has been figured in several works, among 
 which may be named J. J. Becher's Oedipus Chimicus (Amstelodami, 1664), 
 Zwelffer's Mantissa Spagirica (1652), and W. Cooper's Philosophical Epitaph 
 (London, 1673). 
 
 XIV. (1650). — Two years after this successful experiment the Emperor 
 made another projection at Prague, operating on lead with some of the pow- 
 
2o CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 der received from Richthausen. With the gold thus obtained Ferdinand made 
 a second medal bearing- the inscription : aurea progenies plumbo prognata 
 parente. (A golden daughter born of a leaden parent). This medal was seen 
 by the traveler Keyssler in the last century, at the Imperial castle of Ambras 
 in the Tyrol. Richthausen, who had furnished the Emperor with the means 
 for these transmutations, was ennobled, being made Lord of Chaos. (J. G. 
 Keyssler's Neueste Reisen durch Deutschland. 2 Abth. Hannover, 175 1.) 
 
 XV. (1658). — The accomplished Richthausen, now Lord of Chaos, gave 
 further proof of his skill (in legerdemain or in chemistry?) in the year 1658. 
 The Elector John Philip of Mainz, a warm patron of alchemists, having 
 received some of the powder of projection from Richthausen, and taking extra- 
 ordinary precautions to prevent fraud, himself converted four ounces of 
 mercury into gold. The metal was superfine and additional silver had to be 
 added to reduce it to the usual quality. Pieces of this gold were in the 
 possession of Professor G. W. Wedel of the University of Jena ; and Mainzer 
 ducats were also coined from a portion of the abundant metal. These bear : 
 
 Obverse. The arms of the Electorate of Mainz and the words : georg 
 [ius] frid. [ericus] d. [ei] g. [ratia] archiep[iscopus] p. [rinceps] e. [lector] 
 ep[iscopus] worm, [atle] . (George Frederick, by the grace of God Arch- 
 bishop, Prince, Elector, Bishop of Worms). 
 
 Reverse. The words : ducatus nov. [us] aur. [eus] elector, [atus] mogunt 
 [le] (New golden ducat, struck for the Electorate of Mainz) and below this 
 the Mainzer wheel. They are also stamped with the sign $ which denotes that 
 the gold was made by hermetic art from mercury. (Moncony's Voyages 
 
 n, 379.) 
 
 XVI. (1652.) — A silver piece of Low Dutch origin is figured by Rey- 
 her. On the obverse are these curious emblems : a tower with flames issuing 
 from the archway, a snail bearing a ring in his mouth, and a background of 
 hills above which birds are flying. Around this the words : 
 
 >J< Vant' geen dat Elck Versmeet ; 
 Ben ick in t' wesen bracht 
 Diek' eer maer Vullis was 
 Bral nu met a' hoochst pracht. 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 21 
 
 (No one has found that which each despises. 
 I am brought into being : 
 Though I was little more than filth 
 Now I shine with the greatest brilliancy.) 
 
 Reverse. Three miners at work with pick and spade in a quarry or mine ; 
 around this the words : — 
 
 ►J^Langst geweest, EERST GEVONDEN; 
 Door Goots gaeft te deser stonden. 
 t' koompt van godt 
 Dit Edel Lot A. 1652. 
 
 (A long time existing, just discovered 
 
 Through God's gift at this time. 
 
 This noble lot comes from God. [Anno : In the year] 1652.) 
 
 Reyher says this is preserved in the treasury of the illustrious Count of 
 Schwartzburg, residing at Arnstadt in Thuringia. 
 
 XVII. (1675.) — An Augustinian monk named Wenzel Seyler, a native 
 of Bohemia, visited Vienna in 1675, and securing an interview with the reign- 
 ing Emperor, Leopold I, son of Ferdinand III, accomplished in his presence 
 a successful projection. He converted a copper vessel which had been 
 brought to him into gold. He also changed tin into gold, and from the 
 precious metal the Emperor caused ducats to be struck, stamped only on one 
 side ; these bore on the obverse a portrait bust of the Emperor with the 
 words: leopoldus d.[ei] g.[ratia] r.[omanorum] i.[mperator] s.[emper] a. 
 [ugustus] g. [ermanle] h.[ungarle] e. [t] b. [ohemle] r. [ex] (Leopold, 
 by the grace of God, the ever august Emperor of the Roman Empire, King of 
 Germany, Hungary and Bohemia.) On the reverse the year 1675, and the 
 couplet : 
 
 " Aus Wenzel Seyler's Pulvers Macht 
 Bin ich von Zinn zu Gold gemacht." 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 which may be paraphrased thus : 
 
 " By We?izel Seyler's aid, Leopold 
 Transmuted me from tin to gold' 
 
 (Gottfr. Heinr. Burghard's Destillirkunst. Brieg, 1748.) 
 
 XVIII. (1677.) — Wenzel Seyler was rewarded by being ennobled, with 
 the cognomen Von Reinburg, but resorting to deceitful practices he was sent 
 back to his cloister without however receiving punishment. Two years later 
 this crafty monk succeeded in again persuading the Emperor of his power, 
 and a large and elegantly ornamented medallion, still preserved in the 
 Imperial Cabinet of coins in Vienna, commemorates the event. This medal- 
 lion is of oval form, measures 40 by 37 centimeters, and has a weight of 7200 
 grammes. On the obverse is engraved a portrait of Leopold I, surrounded 
 by no less than forty-one portraits of his predecessors on the German throne. 
 On the reverse is a long inscription in Latin, setting forth the virtues of the 
 Emperor and the power of Johann Wenzel von Reinburg, in the year 1677. 
 This medallion is figured in Herrgott's Monumenta Augustae Domus Austria- 
 cae (1760), and in Prof. A. Bauer's Chemie und Alchymie in Oesterreich. 
 (Wien, 1883.) I examined it in person in August, 1888, at the Imperial 
 Cabinet of Coins, Vienna. It is of elaborate workmanship but decidedly 
 brassy in color, and is said to have a specific gravity of only 12.67, that °f 
 gold being 19.3. Two small notches, one in the upper edge and one in the 
 lower, show that it has been cut into for examination. 
 
 XIX. (1677.) — Baron Krohneman, one of the boldest impostors of the 
 seventeenth century, played the part of an adept at the court of the Margrave 
 George William of Baireuth, with varying success from 1677 to 1686. He 
 pretended to be able to "fix" quicksilver, that is, to convert it into a solid 
 and to change its color to yellow, in short to transmute mercury into gold. 
 Living at the expense of the Margrave and consuming great sums of money 
 in fruitless experiments, he sought to retrieve his waning reputation by a bold 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 
 
 23 
 
 stroke ; in the presence of the Prince he heated mercury with salt, vinegar 
 and verdigris in an iron dish, and at the end of the operation gold remained. 
 Probably the trickster mingled gold in the form of powder with the verdigris. 
 Silver was made in like manner, and from this a medal was struck, inscribed 
 with symbolical figures and dedicated to the Margrave. 
 
 The obverse has a figure of the winged god Mercury, standing on a ped- 
 estal ; in his right hand he holds the caduceus with the sun at its head, his 
 left hand is placed across his breast. A chain connects his two arms and his 
 ankles, near which hang a padlock. Above the figure is the inscription : arte 
 et industria. (By art and industry.) And below, exhibitum serenissimo 
 
 PRl[NCIPl] DNO [DOMINO] CHRISTIA[NO] ERNESTO d[ei] g[rATIa] MARCHIONI 
 BRANDENB. [uRGLe] DUC. [i] BORUS[sLe] DIE VI NOv[EMBRIs] ANNO MDCLXXVII. 
 
 (Given to his most serene highness Prince Christian Ernest, by the grace of 
 God Margrave of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia, the sixth day of November, 
 in the year 1677.) 
 
 The reverse contains the words : solius quod multis creditum esse na- 
 ture OPUS NON MINOS ARTIS ESSE IGNORET NEMO. PRODIERE OLIM PRODEUNT 
 ET NUNC IPSIUS TESTIMONIA REI. DEO HONORI, PROXIMO SALUTI, TOTI MUNDO 
 
 admirationi. (Let no one be ignorant of the fact that what many have 
 believed to be the work of nature alone is not less the work of art. They 
 were formerly produced, they are now produced, as shown by the thing itself. 
 To the glory of God, the salvation of mankind, and the admiration of the 
 whole world.) 
 
 Krohneman had rightly reckoned on the effect of his legerdemain, and 
 the Prince gave him the title of Baron, together with many favors. He con- 
 tinued to pursue his crafty ways, duping many persons in authority, fleecing 
 General Kaspar von Lilien to the extent of 10,000 gulden, and living in 
 extravagant style on his ill-gotten gains. At different times during the ten 
 years in which he flourished, seven other coins and medals were struck to 
 memorialize the operations conducted by Krohneman, or to impose upon his 
 patrons. Four of these bear the date 1679, one the year 1678, one the year 
 1 68 1, and one has no date. 
 
24 CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 The medal of 1678 is very similar to that struck November 6th, 1677, 
 bearing- the standing figure of Mercury holding the caduceus upright on the 
 obverse, and the same inscription on the reverse. The date on the obverse, 
 however, is January 8, 1678; on the pedestal of Mercury are the initials' of 
 Krohneman's name : c. [hristianus] w.[ilhelmus] b.[aro] d.[e] k.[rohne- 
 max], together with the single word posteritati. (To posterity.) 
 
 Of this medal many impressions were coined, some of them bearing in 
 the place of the words arte et industria, the legend pietate et justitia. 
 (By piety and justice.) They weighed " 4 loth 2 quint," being smaller than 
 the coin of 1677. 
 
 XXI. (1679.) — The four coins of the year 1679 have the following 
 characters : 
 
 [1.] Both in silver and in gold, the latter of the value of 8£ ducats, and 
 dedicated to the Margravine on her birthday, February 18th. 
 
 Obverse. A Doric column crowned and encircled by a vine bearing 
 grapes ; on one side Cupid shooting an arrow, on the other a sunflower with 
 its ^blossom turned towards the sun, which is above and to the side of the 
 central column. Beneath the latter a pair of doves, in the background bay- 
 reuth. Inscriptions : auf libes gluth. (In the glow of love.) der durchl 
 [auchtigsten] und unvergleichlichten prinzessin, zu ehren f. [rauen] 
 f. [rauen.] (To the honor of the most noble and incomparable lady Princess.) 
 
 Reverse. A palm tree in fruit, above, the rays of the sun ; on either side 
 a heart connected by a chain to the tree and surmounted by a crown. In- 
 scription (continued from the obverse) : sophia louysa marg. [raevin] zu 
 br. [andexburg] g.[eboren] h. [erzogin] z[u] w. [urtemberg] u[xd] t[eck] 
 aufgerichtet v. [on] c. [hristian] w. [ilhelm] b.[aron] v. [on] k. [rohxe 
 man] 1679. (Struck in honor of Sophia Louisa, Margravine of Brandenburg, 
 by birth Duchess of Wurtemburg and Teck, by Christian Wilhelm, Baron 
 Krohneman.) In a half circle within the outer one : folgt seegexs guth ; 
 above one heart, die starckt ; and above the other, der muth. On one 
 heart, the letters c. [hristian] e.[rnst] ; on the other, s.[ophia] l.[ouysa]. 
 (Heaven's blessing follows strength and courage.) (Kohler, Vol. IX, p. 417.) 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 25 
 
 XXII. [2.] Also in silver and in gold, the latter of four ducats' 
 weight. This was struck on the baptismal day of the Prince, May 14th, 1679. 
 
 Obverse. A two-headed bird, part eagle, surmounted by a crown, over 
 which the words : praesidia principis. (Protection of the Prince.) On the 
 outer circle the words : in honorem ser. [enissimi] princ. [ipis] d[omini] d. 
 [ucis] christ. [iani] ernest. [1] march. [ionis] . (Continued on the reverse.) 
 
 Reverse. An oval shield on a bare arm, the hand grasping a laurel- 
 branch, the arm projects from clouds. Above, the words, pro patria (For 
 Fatherland) on a scroll, and around the edge: brand. [enburgiae] boruss. 
 [le] duc.[i] ; offert. c. [hristianus] w.[ilhelmus b.[aro] d.[e] k.[rohne- 
 man] m.dclxxix. (In honor of his most serene highness, Prince, Lord and 
 Duke, Christian Ernest, Margrave of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia ; pre- 
 sented by Christian William, Baron Krohneman, 1679.) 
 
 XXIII. [3.] This is of silver and commonly called a gulden. 
 Obverse. The portrait bust of the Margrave Christian Ernest, and the 
 
 words: christian. [us] ern. [estus] d.[ei] g. [ratia] mar[chio] br. [anden- 
 burgle] e.[t] m. [agdeburgi] pr. [ussde] d.[ux] b. [urgravius] n.[orimber- 
 ce] (Christian Ernest, by the grace of God Margrave of Brandenburg and 
 Magdeburg, Duke of Prussia, Burgrave of Nuremburg.) 
 
 Reverse. No ornamentation, and the inscription : in natalem sereni- 
 
 TATIS SILE SEXT. [UM] ET TRIGES. [iMUM] DECENTI CULTU MACTANDUM NUMISMA 
 HOC FIERI CURAVIT C. [HRISTIANUS] W. [iLHELMUS] B. [ARO] . D. [e] K. [ROHNE- 
 
 man] 1679. (Christian William, Baron Krohneman, had this coin struck to 
 celebrate appropriately the 36th birthday of his serene highness.) 
 
 XXIV. [4.] A silver thaler struck on the birthday of the Crown 
 Prince George William, November 16th, 1679. 
 
 Obverse. An armed hand resting on part of a globe and holding upright 
 a sceptre. The arm projects from clouds and supports a branch of laurel. 
 Above the sceptre the sun with long rays, surmounted by the words : a deo 
 et parente. (From God and his father.) On the outer edge the inscrip- 
 tion: IN HONOREM ET DIEM NATAL, [em] l6. NOV. [EMBRIS] 1679. SER[ENISSI- 
 
 mi] princ. [ipis] d.[ucis] d[omini] georg. [ii] w. [ilhelmi] . (In honor of, 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 and for the birthday, November 16, 1679, of the most illustrious Prince and 
 Duke, Lord George William.) 
 
 Reverse. A square table on which rests a cushion bearing a sword and a 
 sceptre crossed and passing through a crown ; above this an eye in clouds 
 from which rays project. On a scroll or ribbon the words: optima spes 
 patrle. (The best hope of the nation.) Around the edge the inscription: 
 
 MARCH [IONIS] BRAND. [ENBURGLE] BOR. [tJSSLe] DUC. [is] OFFERT C. [HRISTIANUS] 
 
 w. [ilhelmus] b. [aro] d. [e] k[rohneman] mdclxxix. (Margrave of Bran- 
 denburg, Duke of Prussia, presented by Christian William, Baron Krohne- 
 man, 1679.) This being a continuation of the legend on the obverse. 
 (Kohler, Vol. VII, p. 265. Madai, Nos. 1053, 1054, 1055.) 
 XXV. (168 1.) — Krohneman lived largely by nattering his princely 
 patron, and in 1681 caused another silver coin to be struck on the birthday 
 of the Margravine (February 18th), which is notable for its rhyming inscrip- 
 tions. With the exception of a few stars above and below, on both sides, 
 this coin is wholly without ornamentation and symbols. The obverse bears 
 the verses : 
 
 Hoch-Grossus Fursten-Bild, 
 Ihr Jahr-Tag heut auffgeht, 
 hler steht er auf dem schild, 
 Wie Ihr MIT Augen SEHT ; 
 
 GOTT WOLLE SIE BEGLUCKEN 
 
 Und IHR viel Heil zu schicken 
 
 AUCH ALLER ORTH UND ENDEN 
 DEN REICHEN SEGEN SENDEN. 
 
 (O high and mighty Princess-image, thy birthday occurs to-day, 
 Here it stands on the shield, as you plainly see ; 
 God will grant you His favor and much happiness 
 And on every place and region send His rich blessing.) 
 
 Around the outer circle the words: der durchl. [auchtigsten] u. [nd] un- 
 
 VERGLEICHLICHSTEN PRINCESSIN FRAUEN FRAUEN, SOPHIEN LOUYSEN, MARGRAFFIX 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 27 
 
 zu brand, [enburg] . (Most high and incomparable Lady, Princess Sophia 
 Louisa, Margravine of Brandenburg.) This is continued on the reverse. 
 On the reverse, these verses : 
 
 SIE GRUNE EWIG FORT 
 UND LEBE WOHL VERGNUGT, 
 DER HOCHSTE SEY IHR HORT 
 
 bis SIE die Welt obsiegt. 
 Und segne alle Thaten 
 der hlmmel woll ihr rathen 
 dass sie leb lang in freuden, 
 befreid von allen leyden. 
 
 (May you always remain youthful and live in great happiness, may the Highest be your pro- 
 tector until you rule the world, and bless all your deeds. Let Heaven be your counsellor that 
 you long live in peace, free from all misfortunes.) 
 
 Around these verses, a continuation of the sentence on the obverse, to wit : 
 geb. [oren] hertzog.[in] z. [u] w. [urtemberg] u. [nd] t. [eck] zu ehren 
 
 AUFGERICHTET AN IHREN HOCHGEBURTHE TAGE V. [on] C. [HRISTIAN] W. [iLHELM] 
 
 b. [aro] v. [on] c. [rohneman] den i8ten febr[uar] i 68 i. (Born Duchess of 
 Wurtemberg and of Teck, presented in honor of her birthday by Christian 
 William, Baron Krohneman, February 18th, 1681.) 
 
 This is said to be the only instance in which Krohneman's name is 
 spelled with a C instead of a K. 
 
 XXVI. General Kaspar von Lilien, one of the dupes of Krohneman, 
 already named, obtained a few ounces of gold by an experiment with some 
 white salt of Krohneman's preparation, the operation being carried out in the 
 General's own house. To commemorate this event a medal was struck bear- 
 ing no date, but having the following features. 
 
 Obverse. A lily plant in flower, above which the sun's rays issuing from 
 a semi-orb containing the Hebrew letters mm ; below the lily the letters : 
 c.[aspar] v. [on] l. [ilien] ; above it the words: durch dieses liecht. 
 (Through these, light. Dieses perhaps alluding to the tetragrammaton, and 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF AICHEMY 
 
 the legend thus meaning "Through the aid of these [i. e. God] the mind has 
 been illuminated.") 
 
 Reverse. Two arms issuing from clouds, on the right and left sides, 
 approach each other centrally; one hand holds a support from which hangs a 
 small key, bearing the letters : 
 
 G E I 
 
 H I N 
 EMS 
 
 Geheimnis (secrecy), the space between the letters being filled with orna- 
 ments. Above this the words: mit vorbericht. (With preparation.) 
 
 This ends our record of the medals associated with the name of Krohne- 
 man ; some of them it is claimed were made out of artificially prepared metal, 
 and others were merely commemorative of some hermetic mystery. The end 
 of this arch-impostor was as tragic as his life was vicious; he was detected in 
 fraud and hung on the gallows by order of the Margrave. Those desiring to 
 follow in detail his extraordinary career, or to examine engravings of the 
 medals named, may consult Fikenscher's Geschichte Baron von Krohnenian, 
 Xlirnberg, 1800, 8vo. 
 
 XXVII. (1686.) — Among the many artful, shameless and pretentious 
 knaves and charlatans that defrauded their wealthy dupes by appealing to 
 their avarice and practicing on their credulity, Domenico Manuel, styled 
 Count Gaetano (or Cajetano), deservedly occupies a high place. His career 
 of adventure, duplicity and extortion, his high positions and his ignominious 
 downfall, form a fascinating chapter in biography, but limited space prevents 
 entering into details. Of Italian origin, he appears now at Madrid, where he 
 stole 15,000 piastres; now at Brussels, where he secured by fraud 6,000 
 florins and two years' imprisonment; now at Vienna, where he gained the 
 confidence of the whole Court by a clever legerdemain ; now at Berlin, where 
 he completely fascinated the King by a projection made in his presence and 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 29 
 
 by promises to make unlimited gold, and now he again appears suspended by 
 the neck on gilded gallows at Ciistrin in 1709. 1 
 
 Unlettered and blinded promoters of alchemical doctrines have con- 
 founded this precious rogue with the innocent Antonius Cajetanus, Prince of 
 the Holy Roman Empire, and since the family coat of arms of Cajetanus has a 
 mysterious three-faced head, 2 the alchemists seized upon a certain thaler 
 bearing this escutcheon, as evidence of the hermetic skill of the charlatan 
 Domenico Manuel. The piece hardly deserves a place in this catalogue, but 
 may be included if only to show the depth of the alchemical folly. The 
 thaler has the following characters. 
 
 Obverse. Portrait bust of Antonius Caietanus with a perruke. Under 
 the arm the figure 130: with the words: ant. [onius] caietanus trivol[sius] 
 s[acri] r[omani] i[mperii] prin[ceps] etc. (Antonio Cajetano Trivulzio, 
 Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, etc.) 
 
 Reverse. Two escutcheons inclined ; above these a crown and a head 
 with three faces, two of them bearded. Below, a bound sheaf of wheat, with 
 the words : coms. m. xi bar. retennii imper. xv et c. 1686. 
 
 (Madai, No. 2069.) 
 
 XXVIII. (1687.) — William Ernest Tenzel, the Thuringian antiquary, 
 (1659-1707,) author of Saxonia Numismatic 'a , mentions a ducat bearing 
 alchemical symbols. 
 
 1 A medal commemorating this execution was struck Count, which has an elaborate shield bearing the fam- 
 at the time. It has been described by Professor Fiewe- ily arms, surrounded by ten differing devices used at 
 ger before the Berlin Numismatic Society, July 3, 1S82. various periods by different branches or individuals of 
 (David L. Walter, Am. Jour, of Ntimis., XXIV, 5.) the family: one of them is the same three-faced head, 
 
 2 This head was one of the crests of the Trivulzios, which was placed in the dexter chief. The inscrip- 
 and is an heraldic or armorial pun on their name, tion on the reverse of XXVII may be read in full, 
 With this crest is usually associated the motto '■'■Mens as explained by Litta, COm(e)s m(usochi) xi bar(o) 
 Unica" so that the significance of the device and motto retennii imper(ialis) xv et c(omes) i.e. Eleventh 
 is "Three faces (Tre Volti) with a single mind." The Count of Musocco, and Fifteenth Imperial Baron and 
 family color was green, the ecclesiastical symbolic Count of Retegno. The ET c which concludes the 
 color of the Trinity, to which this device also alluded inscription on some of these pieces is in a sort of 
 indirectly, as was clearly shown in one of the beautiful monogram, and would very likely be taken for ETC. 
 vellum Manuscript Breviaries from the famous Trivul- {et cetera) were it not that Litta explains it in full, 
 zio Library, sold in New York a few years ago. as given above. He remarks that the device of the 
 
 Litta, in his " Famiglie Celebri Italiane" (last vol- sheaf of wheat, [which appears on the piece of Theo- 
 
 ume) gives considerable space to this family, and dore, as well as on XXVII above], alludes to a tradition 
 
 engraves ten different medals or coins relating to them that one of the Trivulzios generously assisted his 
 
 (both obverse and reverse). Among them was one father-land with a gift of grain in time of famine. — 
 
 which was struck by Theodore Trivulzio, the tenth {Am. Jour, of A/umis.,X.XN, 31.) 
 
3 g CONTRIBUTIONS OF AlCHEMY 
 
 Obverse. Portrait bust of Frederick I, Duke of Gotha, wearing a laurel 
 crown, with the inscription : frideric. [us] d.[ei] g. [ratia] dux sax.[onle] 
 l[uliaci] c[livle] et mont. [ium] . (Frederic, by the grace of God, Duke of 
 Saxony, Julich, Cleves and Berg.) 
 
 Reverse. Two crossed triangles from which rays proceed, with conven- 
 tional clouds, and symbols of the sun and moon ; below, a circle, within which 
 the three symbols, [salt], £ [sulphur], and £ [mercury], with the inscrip- 
 tion: a numine lumen suscipio et redeo. (From the Deity I receive light 
 and reflect it again,) and the date 1687. (Buddeus, Untersuchung von der 
 Alchemic) 
 
 A specimen of this thaler is preserved in the Royal Bavarian Cabinet of 
 Coins, Munich. (Dr. Riggauer.) 
 
 XXIX. (1684.) — The same author mentions a coin struck in 1685 by 
 his highness Anthon Giinther, Prince of Anhalt, as a souvenir of his success 
 in transmutation at Zerbst, where for many years he worked in a laboratory 
 with his own hands. Not having access as yet to Tenzel's work ( Colloqu. 
 menstr., the first literary review published in Germany), we can give but this 
 brief reference to it, taken from the Edelgeborne Jungfer Alchymia, p. 204. 
 
 XXX. (1704). — The crafty alchemists who operated with the hermetic 
 powder, or the so-called philosopher's stone, almost always pretended to have 
 received the precious material from some stranger, and but few professed to 
 be able to prepare a larger supply of the wonder-working substance. The 
 following anecdote is but one of many of similar purport: In October, 1704, 
 George Stolle, a goldsmith of Leipzig, was visited by a stranger, who con- 
 versed on divers subjects for a short time and then inquired if Stolle knew 
 how to make gold. The goldsmith replied very innocently that he " knew 
 only how to work with that metal when already made." The stranger further 
 inquired if he believed in the possibility of transmutation, to which Stolle 
 answered that " he did believe in the art of Hermes, but had never met any 
 person able to give him ocular proofs." Thereupon the visitor exhibited an 
 ingot of a yellow metal which the goldsmith tested with the touch-stone and 
 by the crucible, and ascertained it to be 22 carat gold. The visitor assured 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 31 
 
 him it was artificial gold and withdrew. The next day he returned and asked 
 to have the bar of gold cut into seven round pieces ; this Stolle did, and after 
 the stranger had stamped them he gave him two of the pieces as a souvenir. 
 The pieces were inscribed with the words : o tu alpha et omega vit^e spes 
 
 ES POST MORTEM T? REVIVICAT10 © ]). O UNICUS AMOR DEI IN TRINITATE MISE- 
 RERE MEI IN ^ETERNITATE, PER © ^ $ FIT LAPIS PHILOSOPHORUM. (O Thou who 
 
 art Alpha and Omega [the beginning and the end], thou art the hope of 
 life after death. The restoration of life to lead [transforms it to] gold 
 and silver. O unequalled love of God in Three Persons, have mercy on me 
 through eternity. By sulphur, salt and mercury the philosopher's stone is 
 made.) 
 
 The news of this singular event made a great stir in Leipzig ; Augustus, 
 King of Poland, received one of the gold pieces and the other was deposited 
 in the collection of medals at Leipzig. The unknown adept who was so 
 generous with the precious metal, was. popularly supposed to be a certain 
 mysterious personage who called himself Lascaris, and to whom for many 
 years were attributed similar proofs of hermetic power. {Edelgeborne Jungfer 
 Alchymia. Tubingen 1730.) Figured on Tab. V, No. 67, of Kundmann's 
 Numi Singulares, Breslau, 1734. 
 
 XXXI. (1706.) — In 1705 Charles XII of Sweden condemned to death 
 General Paykhull, convicted of treason, having been captured while bearing 
 arms against his own country. The General, as a forlorn hope, offered, if 
 permitted to live, to manufacture annually one million crowns of gold without 
 any expense to the King or to the Kingdom. He also offered to teach his 
 art to any persons whom the King should select, pretending to have learned 
 the secret from a Polish officer named Lubinski, who in turn had received it 
 from a Corinthian priest. The King accepted Paykhull's offer and made 
 arrangements for guarding against fraud, appointing General Hamilton of the 
 Royal Artillery to superintend the work of the alchemist. The materials 
 were prepared with great care ; Paykhull added his "tincture," together with 
 some lead, and the whole was melted together. A mass of gold resulted 
 which was coined into one hundred and forty-seven ducats. A medal was 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 also struck on this occasion, having a weight of two ducats and bearing this 
 inscription: hoc aurum arte chimica conflavit holmle 1706 o. a. v. payk- 
 hull. (O. A. Von Paykhull cast this gold by chemical art at Stockholm, 
 1706.) This operation, which was in all probability a mere sleight of hand, 
 was witnessed by General Hamilton, Counsellor Fehman, and the chemist 
 Hiarne ; the latter, however, had some predilections for alchemy, and in his 
 report of the affair did not doubt the verity of the transmutation. Berzelius 
 afterwards took the trouble to examine the documents attesting this transmu- 
 tation, and came to the conclusion that the process described could not have 
 accomplished the conversion of lead into gold. (Petrseus, Vorrede zu seiner 
 Ausgabe des Basilius Valentinus ; also Henckel's Alchymistische Brief e, Th. 
 I ; and Berzelius, Traite de Chimie VIII, 7.) 
 
 XXXII. (17 10.) — Professional alchemists usually operated upon lead, 
 but Delisle, a low rustic of Provence, excited much astonishment by trans- 
 forming iron and steel into gold. Although an ignorant, uncultivated man, 
 he succeeded in imposing on persons of learning and influence ; even the 
 Bishop of Senez, who was at first incredulous, wrote to the Minister of State 
 and Comptroller-General of the Treasury at Paris, that he "could not resist 
 the evidence of his senses." In 17 10, in the presence of the Master of the. 
 Mint at Lyons, after distilling with much mystery a yellow liquid, he projected 
 two drops of the liquid upon three ounces of pistol bullets fused with saltpetre 
 and alum, and the molten mass was then poured out on a piece of iron armor 
 where it appeared pure gold, withstanding all tests. The gold thus obtained 
 was coined by the Master of the Mint into medals inscribed aurum arte 
 factum (Gold made by art,) and these were deposited in the Museum 
 at Versailles. (Lenglet du Fresnoy, Histoire de la philosophie hermetique. 
 Paris, 1 741.) 
 
 XXXIII. (17 1 7.) — The Landgrave Ernest Louis of Hesse Darmstadt 
 had long been ambitious of accomplishing a projection, and had made many 
 vain experiments, when, in 17 16, he received by mail a small package sent by 
 one who did not disclose his identity. The package was found to contain the 
 "red" and the "white tincture," with instructions how to use them, the first 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. ^ 
 
 for transmuting into gold and the second for silver. The prince himself 
 tested the effect of these tinctures on lead and had great success. With the 
 gold, he had coined, in 1717, several hundred ducats which bore on one side 
 his effigy and the words: ernest. [us] lud.[ovicus] d.[ei] g.[ratia] hass. 
 [le] landg. [ravius] pr. [inceps] hers, [feldensis] (Ernest Louis, by the 
 grace of God Landgrave of Hesse, Prince of Hersfeld) ; and below : nach 
 alt. [en] reichs schrot. u. [nd] korn. (according to the old standard of the 
 realm) ; and on the other the lion of Hesse and the letters E. L. (signifying 
 Ernest Louis.) With the silver he had coined one hundred thalers similarly 
 inscribed, but also bearing in Latin the words : sic deo placuit in tribula- 
 tionibus b. 1. b. 171 7. (For thus it pleased God in our misfortunes.) (S. H. 
 Guldenfalk's Sammlung von mehr als hundert Transmutationsgeschichten. 
 Frankfurt, 1784.) 
 
 For cut see Kohler, Vol. XVI, 1, 1744. Madai, No. 1277. 
 
 The anonymous author of the queerly entitled Edelgeborne Jungfer 
 Alchymia (Tubingen, 1730), declares he has seen several of the gold and 
 silver pieces mentioned in the preceding pages, especially those of Gustavus 
 Adolphus, dated 1631, 1633 and 1634. He also mentions a gold piece of 
 Niirnberg bearing the words : moneta nova argentea and notwithstanding 
 this mal-a-propos inscription for a gold coin, he considers it a piece in 
 evidence. 
 
 XXXIV. (1732.) — A silver triple thaler of good workmanship is de- 
 scribed by Madai. (No. 4544.) 
 
 Obverse. A portrait bust of the Emperor Charles VI, crowned with 
 laurel, and wearing a perruke. Around and above are the words : carol, [us] 
 hi d.[ei] g. [ratia] sicil. [iarum] ethier[osolyivle] rex. (Charles III, by the 
 grace of God, King of the Sicilies and of Jerusalem.) Beneath the portrait 
 c. p. (Mint master's initials ?) 
 
 Reverse. A burning phoenix on which the sun throws its rays. Below, 
 the letters s. m. and the date 1732 ; with the legend: oblita ex auro ar- 
 gentea resurgit. (The forgotten silvery [component] rises again [? is re- 
 covered] from the gold.) The motto, together with the phoenix, a favorite 
 
34 CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 emblem of alchemists, led Madai to believe that this handsome coin was 
 struck by one of their fraternity. Mr. Walter (Journal, July, 1889, p. 5,) 
 suggests, however, with more probability, that the piece was struck from 
 silver left after refining gold. To change gold into silver was not the 
 alchemist's dream. 
 
 XXXV. An undated thaler, also called a talisman, is imperfectly de- 
 scribed by Madai, who, unfortunately for our purpose, omits the alchemical 
 symbols which are its chief features. 
 
 Obverse. Three flower stalks spring out of the trunk of a tree, each 
 stalk being tipped with a chemical symbol. A naked man with the sun for a 
 head, and a woman with a crescent on her forehead, draw a saw through this 
 tree, beneath which a serpent winds his way. Legend : $Y2is th $Y2EI tep- 
 iietai [Natura per naturam delectatur] (which may be rendered, Nature 
 delights herself in her works.) Owing to imperfect stamping the last word 
 may also be read temnetai [disecatur] (literally, is severed J ). 
 
 Reverse. A crowned man standing on a globe, in his right hand an 
 open book, in his left hand a caduceus held upright. Behind him water and 
 rocks. The man has three faces, two bearded and one younger ; on the 
 globe are chemical characters. In old Gothic letters the words: nATURAG 
 inTGRPRes, yic;e Fun$, gloria munDi. (The interpreter of nature, the source of 
 life, the glory of the world.) (Madai, No. 2380, quoting Val. Ferd. v. 
 Gudenus' Beschreibung eines gesammelten vorraths auserlesener cabinets-thaler . 
 Wetzlar, 1734. 175 pp. sm. folio.) 
 
 In the foregoing pages I have briefly sketched the history and character- 
 istics of all the contributions of Alchemy to the science of Numismatics that 
 I have met with in the course of my reading ; the works cited are chiefly in 
 my private library. Completeness either in detailing the individual coins, or 
 in enumerating them, is not claimed ; a further search in numismatic litera- 
 ture would in all probability reveal many more. In fact, after collecting the 
 
 1 The mystic character of the piece is curiously IIEI (Plat. Phaedr. 240, c, etc.) thus confirming the 
 
 manifested in the legends of the obverse, the signifi- reading TEPIIETAI. But TEMNETAI. which de- 
 
 cance of which is not easily given in English without a notes felling trees, seems to be indicated by the device 
 
 tedious paraphrase. The floral device mav have an of the saw : the grammatical construction is unusual. — 
 
 allusion to the Greek proverb HAI« HAIKA TEP- {Am. Jour, of JVumzs., XXV, 9.) 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 35 
 
 foregoing material, I received from a correspondent the rubbing of an alchem- 
 ical piece, formerly belonging to Mr. Wm. Poillon of New York, and which I 
 will describe presently. This piece is one not known to the writers I have 
 quoted, and this circumstance led me to entertain a hope that I might 
 possibly find other medals and coins of hermetic origin in the great treasuries 
 of Europe. A clue afforded by Bauer, especially directed me to the Imperial 
 Cabinet of Coins in Vienna. But first, I may note that inquiries made in 
 person at the Coin Department of the British Museum, and that of the 
 National Library in Paris, were entirely fruitless. The gentlemen in charge 
 received me with great courtesy, but had no knowledge of alchemical coins, 
 and much less preserved specimens. Inquiry, also, for Reyher's book, being 
 the authority on the subject up to 1692, developed the fact that it was not to 
 be found in either of the above far-famed institutions. 
 
 At Vienna, however, my request to see the VVenzel Seyler medallion 
 was promptly granted, and further queries led to the exhibition of three 
 handsome specimens of alchemical coins. Through the kindness of the 
 Director of the Cabinet of Coins, I was permitted to have made plaster 
 moulds of the three pieces ; these were prepared by the workman of the 
 Imperial Cabinet in the highest style of art. Carrying these moulds with me 
 to London, the Head Keeper of Coins kindly allowed me to avail myself of 
 the skilled electrotyper of the British Museum for the preparation of fac simi- 
 les. These I had made in duplicate, presenting one set to the British 
 Museum, and carrying away the other for my private use. One of these 
 pieces is of gold, or what purports to be gold, and two are of (pseudo) 
 silver. One of the latter was known to Reyher and is figured in his oft- 
 quoted book. 
 
 XXXVI. The medal of which I have a rubbing has the following char- 
 acters : 
 
 Obverse. A figure of Saturn as Chronos, having a scythe over his right 
 shoulder, and dragging behind him Mercury, whose caduceus has fallen in 
 front. Above Saturn, the sun and rays piercing the clouds. Over Mercury, 
 the words: sine me nihil. (Without me nothing [can be accomplished.]) 
 
COA T TRIBC/TIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 In the sun's rays, per me (Through me), and above: tandem (At last). 
 In front of Saturn: si volvero (If I should be changed). The significance 
 of these symbols is plain ; remembering that Saturn is lead, Mercury quick- 
 silver, and the sun gold, they have reference to the transmutation of mercury 
 to gold by the aid of lead and of heat (per me in the sun's rays). 
 
 The reverse shows a large triangle surrounded by flames issuing at right 
 angles to its three sides ; within the triangle is a figure made by combining 
 the symbols of sulphur &, salt ©, and mercury $, over which is the symbol of 
 gold ©. AVove this, and within the triangle, are the words: trinum in uno 
 (Three in one). On the edge of the piece (writes my correspondent) is the 
 following inscription : A star of seven pellets, with the words : dum £ cornua 
 ; assumit soror fit mater fratri suo © (Whilst I was mercury the 
 silver [moon] takes her horns, and the sister becomes the mother to gold her 
 brother) , and following this a little tablet with the letters f. k. The piece 
 itself is of tin or pewter and in fine condition; it measures 35 mm. in diame- 
 ter. It bears no date, but is apparently not very ancient. The theory that 
 bodies are compounded of three principles, to wit; sulphur, salt and mercury, 
 prevailed from the middle of the fifth century to the middle of the eighteenth, 
 though it was modified in the latter period by the introduction of Phlogiston. 
 
 XXXVII. Taking up the fac similes in chronological order, the oldest, 
 though bearing no date, can be assigned to the period between 1581 and 
 16 1 9, since it bears the name of Francis II, Duke of Saxony. 
 
 This is of silver, or some white metal resembling it, and measures 6%mm. 
 in diameter. The obverse is almost wholly taken up with inscriptions arranged 
 within and without a central triangle; several in concentric circles ; in the 
 corners of the triangle are fireballs, a naked man and a salamander, and 
 centrally another small circle. 
 
 $ FRANCISCVS • II • D : G : SAXONIA. ANGARI/E " WESTPHALIA. ET : HADELERLE ' DVX 
 PROPITIO DEO SECVRVS AGO | SIMPLICITAS ET RECTVM TVVM | RVTA VIRESCET 
 
 DEO SIBI ET PROXIMO 
 
 MIRABILIS DEVS EST IN OPERIBVS SVIS 
 
 SAPIENTIA DIVIN/E MVNVS | TANDEM | O 
 
 POSVI TIBI PVNCTVM ET REDVCAM TE 
 
XXXVII. 
 
 ALCHEMICAL MEDALS. 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 37 
 
 It is difficult to translate with certainty the medieval Latin on this piece, 
 but it may perhaps be rendered as follows : 
 
 (Francis II, by the grace of God, Duke of Saxony, Engern, Westphalia, and Hadeln. 
 God being favorable, I act in safety. Simplicity and thy justice [prevailing] the rue [the 
 national emblem] shall flourish. For God, for himself and for his neighbor. God is wonderful 
 in His works. Gold is at length the gift of divine wisdom. I have set a mark for thee and 
 will bring thee back.) 
 
 The reverse has the following words, also arranged in similar style, 
 but within the central triangle two arms issue from clouds, their united hands 
 clasping an upright sword, which itself is surrounded by flames. 
 
 ►J* GLORIA * IN ' EXCELSIS ' DEO ' ET * IN ' TERRA ' PAX HOMINIBVS ' BON.E ' VOLVNTATIS : 
 ►J* TRIA * SVNT ' MIRABILIA : DEVS * ET ' HOMO : MATER " ET ' VIRGO : TRINVS ' ET " VNVS : 
 IEHOVA * VERBVM * CARO ' FACTVM. ' EST - ZEPHIRIS ' SPIRANTIBVS ' MESSIAS ' S ' SPIRITVS. 
 
 IRA PLACATA. 
 
 HOMO. 
 
 (►J* Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, to men of good will. *J« Three things are 
 marvels, God and man, Mother and virgin, Threefold and one. Jehovah. The word has been 
 made flesh. Zephyrs blowing. Messiah. Holy Spirit. Anger appeased. Man.) 
 
 The characters above the word homo are not cut with sufficient 
 distinctness to be indentified, and are given here as closely as possible with 
 type. In Historischen Remarques iiber die neuesten Sac hen in Eur op a, 
 (Hamburg, 1702, etc.), this is described at p. 179. The writer says the first 
 may mean the tables of the Law, (the conventional representation of which it 
 evidently resembles) the centre character the world, and the last the chalice 
 of the New Testament ; and in view of the inscription this seems as satis- 
 factory an explanation as can be offered. The first character is not recog- 
 nizable as an alchemical symbol, the second is antimony, and the third calx, 
 or lime. This Medal is also described in M. Christian ScWegel's Biblia in 
 
COXTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 Nummis, Jena, 1703, (p. 346) who however doubts its being alchemical. 
 (Quoted by David L. Walter, loc. cit.) See plate. 
 
 Reyher describes a variety of this " thaler piece," so called, (and illus- 
 trates it at page 18,) which has the well-known chemical symbols © A $ of 
 sulphur, salt and mercury, but otherwise seems to conform exactly to our 
 plate. Historischen Remarques, p. 129, also has an engraving, and the piece 
 is further briefly mentioned by Kohler and Madai (No. 1282). 
 
 XXXVIII. (Medal of 1675.) — This has the appearance of a piece of 
 silver hammered into shape by an unskilled hand; the marks of the hammer 
 are clearly seen on its faces, and the edge is turned over till it projects slightly 
 on the circumference. It measures 66 mm. in diameter. The obverse has a 
 representation of Saturn as Chronos or Time, with a flowing beard and com- 
 mon garments; he holds a scythe in his right hand, the blade of which passes 
 above and behind his head. He has, as often portrayed, one wooden leg. 
 In his left arm he supports a naked infant. On his left a house and a lofty 
 tree ; on his right rising ground and another tree ; at his feet grass and 
 flowers. No inscription. This design is not stamped as by a die, but is 
 drawn on the face by some sharp-pointed instrument. 
 
 The reverse has a few simple scrolls and the words in five lines in script 
 characters: anno 1675 mense julio | ego j. j. becher doctor | hanc unciam 
 
 ARGENTI FINISSIMI | EX PLUMBO ARTE ALCHYMICA | TRANSMUTAUI. (In the month 
 
 of July, 1675, I, Doctor J. J. Becher, transmuted by hermetic art this ounce 
 of purest silver from lead.) See plate. 
 
 This inscription is of the highest interest, as it directly associates this 
 medal with the eminent German chemist Dr. Johann Joachim Becher, Profes- 
 sor of Medicine in Mainz, and physician to the Elector. Born in 1635 at 
 Spires, he was self educated, but his talents gained for him many positions of 
 honor. At one time he resided in Munich, where he had an excellent labora- 
 tory ; later in Vienna, and still later in Holland. In 1681 he traveled in 
 England, examining the mines and smelting works of Cornwall. He died in 
 1682, according to some authorities, in London. He was the author of thirty- 
 
 n or more works, the most celebrated being that usually known as 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 39 
 
 Physica Subterranea, (Frankfurt, 1669) ; a later edition of this, published at 
 Leipzig in 1703, has a long introduction by George E. Stahl. In this joint 
 work the doctrine of Phlogiston is promulgated, a theory that controlled 
 chemical science for more than a century. 
 
 Although possessed of no mean attainments in science, Becher was a 
 firm believer in alchemy, and labored and wrote much on the transmutation 
 of metals. In the same year as that of the medal in question (1675) ne 
 published an Essay on the possibility of transmutation, dedicated to Emperor 
 Leopold. At this time and for two years previously he was much occupied 
 with alchemy; in 1673 he made a proposition to the States General of Hol- 
 land to manufacture for the government one million thalers per annum, above 
 all costs, by operations on sea-sand, of which there certainly is no lack on the 
 coast. He maintained that the sand fused with certain ingredients, to which 
 were added one mark of silver, yielded uniformly one as of gold, and stated 
 that by operating on one million marks of silver daily, the above named profit 
 could be secured. This proposition was favorably considered by the govern- 
 ment, which granted him a premium and a percentage. In 1679 an experi- 
 ment was made, whereby one mark of silver yielded six as of gold. But 
 notwithstanding this fortunate result, the project was never carried out, and 
 Becher soon after left the country. In justice to this chemist, it should be 
 stated that he himself said he preferred science itself to all gold. To the 
 circumstances connected with the medal in question, I have not as yet found 
 any reference in those of his works at my disposition. 
 
 XXXIX. ( 1 716.) — The third of the fac simile pieces is of (suppositious) 
 gold, and is a handsome piece of workmanship, the figures and letters being 
 in high relief. 
 
 Obverse. A large figure of Saturn resting on clouds, with the head 
 of the radiant Sun, and holding a scythe in his right hand and an hour- 
 glass in his left. On the clouds to his left is the symbol of lead T?. The 
 legend, surrounding this device and near the edge, is aurea progenies 
 plumbo prognata parente. (A golden offspring begotten of its parent 
 lead.) 
 
40 CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 Reverse. No ornaments whatever, and the following long inscription in 
 letters o\ uniform size : 
 
 METAMORPHOSIS | CHYMICA | SATURNI IN SOLEM | ID EST, | PLUMBI | IN AURUM, | SPECTATA 
 tENIPONTI, | 31 DECEMBRIS MDCCXVI. | PROCURANTE : SERENISSIMO | CAROLO PHILIPPO | COMITE 
 PALATINO RHENI | S : [ACRl] R : [OMANl] I : [MPERIl] ARCHIDAPIFERO ET ELECTORE | BAVARIA, 
 IULLE, CLIVI.E I ET MONTIUM DUCE, | TYROLIS GUBERNATORE ETC., ETC., | ATQUE IN HAC MONETA | 
 AD PERENXEM REI MEMORIAM | ARCI AMBROS ET | POSTERITATI DONATA. (The chemical meta- 
 
 morphosis of Saturn into Sol, that is, of lead into gold, seen at Innsbruck, December 31st, 
 1 716, at the hands of his highness Charles Philip, Count Palatine of the Rhine, of the Holy 
 Roman Empire. Chamberlain and Elector of Bavaria, Duke of julich, Cleves and Berg, Gover- 
 nor of the Tyrol, etc. And a coin in this [z. e. struck in metal resulting from this metamor- 
 phosis] is given as a perpetual souvenir of the transaction to the Castle of Ambros and to 
 posterity.) See plate. 
 
 This inscription gives all that we have of its history ; the Castle of 
 Ambros was renowned in the last century for its extensive and valuable 
 collections of' curiosities, many of which are still preserved in Vienna. The 
 hexameter on the obverse, Aurea progenies, etc., was first used, as we have 
 stated, by the Emperor Ferdinand III in 1650. 
 
 Since collecting most of the preceding material, I have received a kind 
 letter from Dr. Hans Riggauer, Director of the Royal Bavarian Cabinet of 
 Coins, Munich, communicating a list of the alchemical medals in possession 
 of the Collection ; to this we have already referred, and we here add brief 
 notes of additional medals named in his letters, Nos. XL to XLIII. 
 
 XL. A pest-medal. Obverse: St. George and the Dragon. Reverse. A 
 monogram, etc., and an inscription with the symbols § and $ . 
 
 XLI. A medal of lead, size of a double thaler. Obverse. In an inner 
 circle the sun surrounded by the signs £ $ © $ % T? ([, and the inscription 
 (translated) : this thaler is manufactured of seven metals. Reverse. An 
 inscription declaring that "These metallic and mercurial materials are worn 
 by men as protection against rheumatism and erysipelas." 
 
 XLI I. A small, thick medal of lead. Obverse. A hexaeram with the 
 letters A D O N A I in the corners; in the central hexagon the characters 
 6" O 3) %• Reverse. A pentagram with alchemical and mystical characters. 
 
XXXIX. 
 
 ALCHEMICAL MEDALS. 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 41 
 
 XLIII. A medal of tin. Obverse. A miner at work, surrounded by 
 sixteen alchemical characters. Reverse. An inscription of ten lines. (See 
 Appel, 4038-) 
 
 It is obvious from even these brief descriptions, that Nos. XL to 
 XLII, and possibly XLIII, fall in the class of talismanic medals, and the 
 alchemical symbols so-called are of purely astrological significance. 
 
 XLIV. The alchemical signs $ ([ T?, copper, silver and lead, on a coin 
 of George II of Hanover, struck in 1740, and which bears a view of a mine, 
 are probably used to denote the metals found there. 
 
 In speaking of No. X, page 17, it was mentioned that the alchemistic 
 sign £ is sometimes used to denote the day of the week (Wednesday): it is 
 also used to denote the month of September on some of the celebrated 
 G loc ken- thaler , or Bell dialers, struck at Braunschweig-Liineburg in 1643 : 
 and the symbol % occasionally denotes Thursday. (Madai, 1144 and 1145). 
 
 In Mr. William T. R. Marvin's superb volume The Medals of the 
 Masonic Fraternity described and illustrated (Boston, 1880, privately printed) , 
 will be found a medal bearing planetary signs [No. CCCCXLIV, on page 
 179], and several with astronomical emblems. 
 
 Besides the coins and medals made from hermetic gold and silver, there 
 were many other evidences of alchemical skill not less reliable and pleasing. 
 Having no intention, however, of reviewing the history of transmutations in 
 general, we can only allude to a few of these visible and precious proofs of 
 the mystic art. Early in the 17th century, Michael Sendivogius of Poland 
 played a successful role , as alchemist in many parts of Europe, receiving 
 special favors from crowned heads and wealthy noblemen. In 1604 he went 
 to Prague and was cordially received by Emperor Rudolph II, a devotee of 
 alchemy ; Sendivogius presented a morsel of the philosopher's stone to the 
 Emperor, who made a transmutation with his own hands ; delighted with his 
 success, Rudolph caused to be placed on the wall of the room of the castle in 
 which the event occurred, a marble tablet inscribed as follows : 
 
 FACIAT "HOC QUISPIAM ALIUS 
 
 QUOD FECIT SENDIVOGIUS POLONUS ! 
 
42 C0XTXIBU770NS OF ALCHEMY 
 
 (Let any other do what Sendivogius the Pole has done.) This tablet was still 
 to be seen in position as late as 1740. Sendivogius was given the title of 
 Counsellor of State, and honored with a medal of the Emperor. (Lenglet 
 du Fresnoy, Histoire de la philosophie hermetique. Paris, 1741, Vol. I, p. 339.) 
 
 On another occasion Sendivogius delighted the King of Poland, Sigis- 
 mund II, by transmuting a silver medal into gold without injuring the orna- 
 mentation ; this he did by merely heating the medal red hot and dipping it 
 into a solution of the "powder" in alcohol. Borel, in his Antiquites Gaulozses, 
 relates that he saw this crown piece in Paris, and he describes it as " partly 
 gold, so far only as it was steeped in the elixir, and the gold part was porous, 
 being specifically more compact than in its former state in silver ; there 
 was, moreover, no appearance of soldering nor any possibility of deception." 
 ( Morhof, Epistola ad Joel Langelottum. Hamburgi, 1673, p. 150.) 
 
 A certain Lascaris, whose movements were mysterious in the extreme and 
 who generally remained incognito, is credited with a remarkable feat in 
 Vienna. On the 20th July, 17 16, before a number of important personages, 
 in the palace of the Commander of the Fortress, Lascaris transformed a cop- 
 per pfennig into silver by plunging it into a certain liquid. This was testified 
 to in legal form by many dignitaries of the Church and of the State. 
 
 The Scotch alchemist, Alexander Sethon, in 1602, made a projection for 
 his host, James Haussen, a poor sailor; some of the gold he gave to Dr. 
 Vanderlinden, a reputable physician, who engraved on it the date of the 
 transmutation, March 13th, 1602, at four d clock; this piece was seen in the 
 hands of the Doctor's grandson by George Morhof. The same Sethon is 
 credited with another transmutation for a Frankfurt merchant named Coch, 
 with whom he lodged, and from the gold thus obtained shirt buttons were 
 manufactured. (Th. de Hoghelande, Historiae aliquot trans7nutationis metal- 
 licae. Coloniae, 1604.) 
 
 In many families of Germany, heirlooms, such as the buttons just named, 
 were treasured and handed down to younger generations as mystical emblems 
 of a lost art ; such was the buckle, half silver and half o-old, received from an 
 unknown adept by Baron von Creuz of Homburg in 1 7 1 5 ; such were the 
 
 
 RD- 
 
 I 07 
 
TO NUMISMATICS. 43 
 
 silver guldens transmuted to gold by Count Caetano, in the city of Berlin 
 (1705) ; such, too, was the drinking-cup belonging to the Countess Sophie 
 von Erbach, which was changed from silver to gold by an unknown visitor in 
 her castle ; such also were the rings and buttons preserved by the Gulden falk 
 family as a souvenir of the skill of an adept in 1755. 
 
 Those who believed and would persuade others to believe in the trans- 
 mutations of metals, were further wont to recall the enormous riches of many 
 reputed followers of Hermes, discovered usually after their death. Augustus, 
 Elector of Saxony, who made projections with his own hands, at his death in 
 1580, left seventeen millions of rix dollars in the treasury; Rudolph II of 
 Germany, already often alluded to, left at his death in 1680, eighty-four 
 hundred weight of gold and sixty hundred weight of silver, products of 
 hermetic art. At the same time the professed makers of gold invariably 
 demanded from their credulous patrons, or from the public, large sums of 
 gold itself, ostensibly for the preparation of the wonder-working ''tincture," 
 though actually it was consumed in the maintenance of ostentatious and 
 extravagant living. 
 
 The establishment of a truly scientific spirit of inquiry, and the progress 
 of a rational chemistry at the close of the last century, exposed the preten- 
 sions of alchemy, and deprived the charlatans of their power over the masses. 
 The manufacture of coins and medals to commemorate fraud and legerdemain 
 ceased, yet this century is not wholly without its harmless claimants of 
 alchemical knowledge and power. 
 
 In 1843 a curious work appeared in Paris, by a manufacturer of cloths 
 of one of the southern provinces, who undertook to teach in nineteen lessons 
 the secret of transmutation. Francois Cambriel, the author of this " Cours de 
 philosophie hermetique" made the following magnificent offer: 
 
 "We therefore offer 25,000 francs for each thousand francs loaned, pro- 
 vided the person loaning the money will grant us his confidence and will 
 furnish 6,000 francs (a sufficient amount to complete our discovery), to be 
 paid in seventeen payments, one every month except the first, which shall be 
 of 1,200 francs." Then follows his address, and it is rather significant that 
 
44 CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALCHEMY TO NUMISMATICS. 
 
 he resides in Judas Street ! No. 8, Paris. This tempting- offer does not seem 
 to have found takers ; perhaps the author lacked the financial ability of a 
 George Law to float his bubble. 
 
 In 1869 Dr. Gottlieb Latz, of Bonn, one of the University towns of Ger- 
 many, published an extraordinary volume on alchemy, "for the use of physi- 
 cians and all educated thinkers," in which he exhibits much misdirected 
 learning, and amazing credulity. 
 
 Finally, this very year, 1889, has seen the second edition of a volume 
 having the title; " L'or et la transmutation des metaux, par G. Theodore Tif- 
 fereau, alchimiste du XIXe siecle. Paris, 1889." To analyze this singular 
 book would take up too much space at the close of a paper already lengthened 
 beyond expectation, but we may briefly say that the author claims to have 
 discovered while residing in Mexico, natures processes of producing the metals 
 gold and silver in mines, and he appeals to the public to give their attention 
 to a series of six memoirs addressed to the French Academy of Sciences and 
 declined by them. These memoirs are couched in respectful, not extravagant 
 terms, and clothed in modern chemical language, — facts which make the claims 
 of the author more at variance with current belief. He permitted one of the 
 assayers of the Mint at Paris to perform one of his experiments, and the 
 report annexed would be discouraging to any one less blind, enthusiastic, and 
 self-confident than Monsieur Tiffereau. He does not strictly come within the 
 scope of this essay, as he has not as yet made any contributions to numis- 
 matics ; perhaps this notice may prompt him to do so, and furnish collectors 
 with one more singular proof of belief in a long-lived delusion. 
 
 University Club, New York. 
 
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