Owner Comments:
What more can be said about one of the most beautiful coins ever minted. Yes, it is a coin. The value is on the edge.
Obverse Designer: EJ - Einar Jonsson
Reverse Designer: BB - Baldvin Bjornsson
Subject: 1000 Years Althing
Note: Prev. KM#M3. FH stands for Friedrich Hornlein, the engraver. Struck privately by the Saxon State Mint, Muldenhutten, Germany, at the instigation of a Parliamentary committee.
Composition: Silver
Weight: 45.0000g
Diameter: 45mm
A very rare Icelandic 1000 Years Althing 10 Kronur Coin, 1930. Considered to be one of the most beautiful designs ever minted, this large 45mm silver coin was struck privately by the Saxon State Mint, Muldenhutten, Germany. It was created at the request of a parliamentary committee of the Icelandic `Althing’, to commemorate the 1,000-year anniversary of that legislative body. The Icelandic `Althing’, or ‘Althingi’ is one of the oldest parliamentary institutions in the world; founded in the year 930 A.D. at Thingvellir, Iceland; perhaps the earliest forerunner of the modern Western Democratic Republic style of governance. To the obverse of the coin is a magnificent relief of the King of Thule on his throne, with hands on the heads of kneeling children; it bears the initials EJ, for designer Einar Jonsson (1874-1954). To the reverse is the Icelandic coat of arms with sailing ship, shield, and crown; surrounded by four mythic creatures; it bears the initials B.B. for designer Baldvin Björnsson (1879-1945). The edge is smooth, with denomination of 10 Kronur engraved. Total mintage 10,101,
Einar Jónsson was an Icelandic sculptor, born in Galtafell, a farm in southern Iceland. At a young age Einar proved himself to be an unusual child with an artistic bent. At that time there was little or no tradition of sculpture in Iceland, so Einar moved to Denmark where he attended the Copenhagen Academy of Art. In 1902 the Althing, the Icelandic parliament, awarded Einar a grant to study in Rome for 2 years. He returned from Rome to Copenhagen and settled down there. According to The Einar Jónsson Museum in Reykjavik after residing in Rome:
"Jónsson completely rejected naturalistic depiction and publicly criticized the classical art tradition, which he felt had weighed artists down. He emphasized the need for artists to forge their own path and cultivate their originality and imagination instead of following the footsteps of others. His ideas were related to German symbolism, and he developed a figurative language composed of interpretable symbols, personification and allegory."
In 1909, after living abroad for almost 20 years he made an arrangement with the Althing to provide him with a home and studio in Reykjavík. In return, he agreed to donate all his works to the country. Einar designed this combination living and working space in collaboration with Architect Einar Erlendsson, though early plans for the house were designed for him by Iceland's State Architect, Guðjón Samúelsson, but these were never realised.
In 1914 Einar was awarded a commission by Joseph Bunford Samuel to create a statue of Icelandic explorer Þorfinnur Karlsefni (Thorfinn Karlsefni) for placement in Philadelphia. Bunford commissioned the sculpture through a bequest that his wife, Ellen Phillips Samuel, made to the Fairmount Park Art Association specifying that the funds were to be used to create a series of sculptures “emblematic of the history of America.” Thorfinn Karlsefni was installed along Philadelphia's Kelly Drive near the Samuel Memorial and unveiled on November 20, 1920. There is another casting of the statue in Reykjavík, Iceland.
In 1917, the day after he married Anne Marie Jørgensen, he and his bride travelled to the United States to complete the work, and today Einar's intrepid Norseman stands on East River Drive in Philadelphia. Several years later, in 1921, his second major North American work was erected when the Icelandic community in Manitoba, Canada purchased a casting of his Jón Sigurðsson statue and had it placed in the Manitoba Legislative Building grounds in Winnipeg. As with the version in Reykjavík, this statue included the bas relief The Pioneers on the base.
After two years in America, Einar returned to Iceland where he produced an amazing body of work, none of it seen outside the country. Unlike most other sculptors, Einar worked almost entirely in plaster. This had to do partly with the lack of good modeling clay in Iceland, but it allowed Einar to work on his individual sculptures for years. Spending over a decade on a particular piece was not uncommon for him.
Baldvin Björnsson was an Icelandic painter and goldsmith. He became the first Icelandic artist to work in the abstract while he stayed in Berlin from 1901 to 1914.
Baldvin was the son of the saintly daughter of Sigrid and Bjorn Arnason goldsmith. He trained as a goldsmith with his father in Isafjordur and then moved to Copenhagen to work fully in the trade. After that he went to Berlin where he worked for thirteen years at the gold shop. Where he married Martha Clara Bemme (later Björnsson). They had three sons, Hauk merchant (1906), one of the founders of the Communist Party of Iceland, Harald Stein merchant (1910) and Bjorn Theodor art historian (1922). Hw and Martha moved to Iceland when World War I broke out.