Rijksdaalder Willem III as a booklet

[Pellinore]

What do you think of this curious object? It looks quite a lot like a Dutch silver rijksdaalder of the period 1849-1874, an 38mm silver coin. But it is a 45 mm silver-colored book with souvenir vues of Rotterdam, issued about 1870. To the left is an original rijksdaalder (not in my possession, or I could show the difference in diameter).

Strange is the way the text has been put on the booklet: see how the distance between G.H.V. and L. is larger on the booklet. One wonders at the way the coin was reproduced.
-- Paul

[THCoins]

Interesting "Numismatic book" find.
Pictures of ancient Rotterdam is a bonus, as not much of that is left (bombed during WW II).

[Pellinore]

Here are some pictures from the reverse of the booklet (and the box in which it is kept) and the inside of the book.
-- Paul

[THCoins]

Nice so complete real document of this era !

[Henk]

I have a similar item, unfortunately without the box, from Antwerp. With a portrait of Leopold II as on the 5 Franc piece. It contains a leporello of photographs of sites in Antwerp.

[THCoins]

Never new about this type of memorabilia. With the second this seems to have been quite a fashionable item at the time. Nice to see the two here together !

[Pellinore]

I have a similar item, unfortunately without the box, from Antwerp. With a portrait of Leopold II as on the 5 Franc piece. It contains a leporello of photographs of sites in Antwerp.

That's great! Probably from about the same date and the same  manufacturer, possibly this Blümlein in Frankfurt. Maybe there are even more!
-- Paul

[Henk]

A similar one from Frankfurt/M is described in: "Kleinkunst in Silber, Schraubtaler un Schraub Medaillen de Münzkabinetsts, historisches Museum Frankfurt am Main (1978) by Gisella Forstner. The "medal" was issued by the Kunstanstallt von PH. Frey & Co., Frankfurt M. The text on the cover is ERINNERUNG AN FRANKFURT A/M". The reverse has a bust of Goethe. The pictures are described as Steindrücke (litho).

I have seen one or two others, one was from Leiden/Netherlands. These must have been issued for other places as well, now they seem to be quire scarce.

[Pellinore]

Great! I know why they are so rare, they are Very delicate. Also, maybe not appreciated by governments because they might be mistaken for real coins.
-- Paul

[chrisild]

Very interesting, those "coin leporello" pieces. Cannot contribute anything here, but thanks for posting them!

Christian

[Pellinore]

The "medal" was issued by the Kunstanstallt von PH. Frey & Co., Frankfurt M. The text on the cover is ERINNERUNG AN FRANKFURT A/M". The reverse has a bust of Goethe. The pictures are described as Steindrücke (litho).

But was there a coin portrait on it, as with the Rotterdam and Antwerp booklets mentioned above? If you look at these, you see the obverse portrait of a large silver coin, that was in daily use.
-- Paul

[Figleaf]

What do you think of this curious object?

My impression is that your intuitive descriptive is quite correct. The middle class would delight in a "curiosity cabinet", a collection of curious objects to amuse their guests until television was at last invented. I presume that the coin on top served as a further angle of amusement: the host could put it on the table as card game betting was going on, hoping that one of the guests would spot it as a fake. It's a scene right out of Camera Obscura

Peter

[Henk]

In addition to my earlier post I add a photo of the cover of the book I mentioned earlier and also a copy of the leparello from this book. It shows the bust of Goethe, I do not think this was at that time used on a coin.

[Pellinore]

Thanks to this, I now know that in Germany this is known as a Steckmedaille (Stecktaler, Steckmünze) if the coins just fit on each other, and as a Schraubmedaille (Schraubmünze &c.) for two halves made of metal, that are screwed onto each other. Naturally, both forms are prone to lose their content or get worn or dented and unusable. A well-known  type is from Bavaria 1918 about a certain war that will be won. But there are also 18th century examples. Wonder about the English terms. Stick medal and Screw medal?
-- Paul

[THCoins]

I believe in English it is a "Box medal".

Anthony