Ancient, British and World Coins, Tokens, and Historical Medals

Germany, 50th Anniversary of the Foundation of Siemens & Halske, 1897, a bronze medal by O. Schultz, bust of Werner von Siemens left, reverse legend in wreath, 50mm (Kunstmedaille 8, 479; BDM –; Wurz. 8423; cf. BDW 13, 772). Surface mark at top of hair, otherwise very fine (£20-30)

Werner Siemens (1816-92: ennobled in 1888) , son of a poor farmer from Lenthe, Hanover, together with his cousin Johann Georg Siemens and Johann Georg Halske (1814-90) founded Telegraphen-Bau-Anstalt von Siemens & Halske, Berlin, on 1 October 1847. The company’s first invention was the pointer telegraph: in 1848 Siemens, while still serving as an officer in the Prussian army, constructed Europe’s first electric telegraph line, between Berlin and Frankfurt. Siemens was an exceptional scientist and gifted engineer with the ability to put his scientific findings into practice. He invented the dynamo in 1866, which spawned a string of world firsts – an electric railway in 1879, an elevator in 1880, the streetcar in 1881, trolley-bus in 1882, electric street lighting in 1883 and many more. A model employer, Siemens introduced profit sharing in 1866 and a company pension scheme in 1872 that was way ahead of its time. Today, Siemens employs over 350,000 people in 189 countries worldwide.