My Avatar and variations on a theme

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My avatar, the little pic under my name is an Austrian Happy New Year Token.  I got a third variety today :-)

Dale
I love collecting cheap

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#2

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#3

[Figleaf]

Obviously, someone has had fun mixing dies. The pig's head is a good luck symbol in Asia too. I once attended the opening of a new building for a Taiwan bank, which was celebrated by a reception in the lobby, all perfectly recognizable except for the pig's head on a stake in the centre of the lobby.

I guess the skater stands for amusement, maybe especially women's amusement, while the drinker could be symbolic for men's amusement during new year's eve. The bottles seem outsized for beer. Austria is a top producer of Eiswein, a very high quality dessert wine made from grapes picked at night by the light of oil lanterns (I am not making this up) after the grapes have been frozen over. Expensive, but quite a treat.

Peter

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I am sure they are wine, in fact there are legible names on the bottles, I could read them with a bit of magnification and have always meant to do that.  I think the skater represent a tradition of community skating as a pastime and social event.  I am sure there was a big community get together on and near the ice (before rinks) for New Year's.  The design is by Adolf Ludwig Hofmann who was an engraver at the Austrian Mint (probably Chief Engraver at least in the medal division) and his monogram is evident on the pig and bottles but missing from the skater.  The skater is however stylistically his work IMO.  He also did Kalendermedaillen and died in 1953.  The tokens are Aluminum and 23mm.  There is a different token from about this time that I have 10 variations of.  Soooo  I am hoping I can find a few more varieties of this one. 

I do have some few expensive coins....but these little worthless tokens are my passion and I could go on about this detail, this variety, this or that engraver but I better not bore everyone too much at a time     

[Figleaf]

I am sure they are wine, in fact there are legible names on the bottles, I could read them with a bit of magnification and have always meant to do that.

I think I cracked it. I read the same name on all the bottles: Voeslauer!

Guess what they make before you follow the link

Peter

[chrisild]

Wow, how did you decipher that? Great! So we're in the New Year's Resolutions Dept., hmm?

Christian

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Hehehe. My big advantage on you papooses is that I don't see very well, so I always have a strong magnifier lying around. That also works on a computer screen.

Peter

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Bigger image of the bottles....looks like the bottles are not all duplicates although  Voeslauer is definitely some of them.
Dale

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Hmm, now we are back to alcoholic beverages, it seems. Pfaffstättner sure refers to wine, and to "Heurigen" places; and Grinzing is a quarter in Vienna which is famous for those. So I had another look, and - maybe that "Vösslauer" refers to Vöslauer Goldeck? That would be another wine (or sparkling wine), a Schlumberger brand. Don't ask me about details though ...

Christian

[Figleaf]

Nussberg is not a town in Austria. Nussberger is a Grüner Veltliner, a grape that yields light white wine.

Pfaffstättner is unknown to Hugh Johnson and Oz Clark, but there is a town called Pfaffstätten. There is a "Weingut" called Pfaffstättner near the town.

Grinzing is also a place where wine comes from, but not an appelation (DAC).

I don't think Vösslauer refers to Vöslauer Goldeck, because of the different spelling - too bad, it's a nice wine. However, there is a place called Bad Vöslau (different spelling also), which is a centre of the local mineral water industry, so maybe this a just a spelling error.

Heurige is wine of the same year, not an appelation. Heurigen are places to drink the local wine with local food. Vienna is the Heurigen hotbed.

So far, I count one wine producer, two towns, a water producer and two unknowns (far left and far right)

Peter

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I think the one on the far right is a repeat of Nussberger.

Second from the far right..I can't make out and the far left I can't make out.

Dale

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Varieties I have:

1. Aluminum: Obverse: 1948 Skater, Reverse: Pigs head
2. Bronze:    Obverse: 1948 Skater, Reverse: Pigs head

3. Aluminum: Obverse: 1948 Skater, Reverse: Bottles

4. Aluminum: Obverse: No date, Pigs head, Reverse: Bottles
5. Bronze:    Obverse: No date, Pigs head, Reverse: Bottles

From looking at the above I suspect the following may exist:
Bronze: Obverse: 1948 Skater, Reverse: Bottles

Neve seen one but would jump on the chance to own it if it exists 

Dale

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Well I found the one I expected to exist, 1948 Skater, Reverse: Bottles, in Bronze, however I did not get it, a friend did.

But I got one I wasn't expecting to exist, 1948 Skater, Reverse: Pig, in Bronze.

Here are both images    I'm very happy to expand my collection and my knowledge at the same time.
Dale

From looking at the above I suspect the following may exist:
Bronze: Obverse: 1948 Skater, Reverse: Bottles
Neve seen one but would jump on the chance to own it if it exists 
Dale

[Figleaf]

Congratulations on finding the die pairs. It proves once again (as if it needed proving) that there are no uninteresting numismatic items.

Peter