LIBERATION OF PRISONERS BY CATHERINE II

WAECHTER, Johann Georg: Russia, 1741, Bronze, 65 mm
Obv: Bust of Catherine II (r) Legend in Cyrillic translated as:??
Rev: Mercy taking chains off prisoners    CLEMENTIA AVGVSTAE
Exergue:  NOXIORVM VINCVLIS EXSOLVTIS . MDCCXLI. D. XV. DEC.
Signed:  WAECHTER . F. / I.G.W.
Very rare mule
Ref: Iversen "Unpublished and Rare Russian Medals, 1874"
Missing from Smirnov

Catherine II (The Great) was Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. In the 18th century Waechter prepared an obverse die for the medal commemorating the liberation of prisoners by Catherine after she ascended the throne in 1762, but the reverse die was never cut, and no medals were struck. Therefore this bust type is missing from the 1840 edition of "Collection of Russian Medals". In the 19th century, Iversen found this earlier unknown die and published it in his 1874 edition of "Unpublished and Rare Russian Medals". At the same period some medals were struck from that die in combination with the reverse die of the Liberation of Prisoners by Elizabeth in 1741 (see above). After some mules mentioned above were struck, the Waechter obverse die was passed to the Hermitage collection. That is why it is missing from the Smirnov catalog of 1908 as well, which describes the dies kept at the mint at that period. (from Dmitry Alexandrov)

LINK to Collection of Medals from Imperial Russia (Yale University)

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