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Auction: 312 - Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 1398

German States - Brandenburg-Prussia. 1917 Wilhelm II and Mehmed V Rashad Silver Meeting Medal. Uncirculated. Cf. Pere 1149. 64mm/121.1gms. Obv: Crowned imperial eagle with coat of arms on breast and wearing Order of the Black Eagle. Rev: Tughra.When the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V Rashad hosted Kaiser Wilhelm II in Constantinople on October 15th 1917, major strategic changes were taking place in their war with the Allied Powers. Franz Josef, the third member of the Drei Kaiser Bund, and a major element of the Central Powers was dead. His successor, Karl I, secretly entered into peace negotiations with the French. In March, revolution in Russia had forced the abdication of the Tsar in favor of a provisional government still committed to persecuting the war on the Eastern Front. The Kerensky government, however, faced numerous difficulties at home, due to agitation by the Bolsheviks, and it remained unclear how much longer Russia would remain a combatant. Once Russia was out of the picture, Germany could move its eastern forces to the beleaguered Western Front. Moreover, Mehmed V Rashad had no real power, and instead the three Pashas, advisors to the sultan, conducted the war for the Ottomans. Although ambitious, they were poor commanders, and the Ottomans suffered defeats from both the Russians in the Caucasus as well as the Arabs and British in the Middle East. That same year, America entered the war on the side of the Allies. Still an unknown quantity at this point, their presence would surely conclude trouble for Germany´s war effort. The meeting between the two remaining members was a futile last-ditch effort to keep their alliance together.An imposing silver medal struck to commemorate the meeting of two leaders that were intimately involved in the greatest war the world had ever seen. While certainly a rare medal, the actual number that exist is unknown. Research has failed to turn up a comparable silver specimen, however a bronze medal did hammer for $3,250 in an 2008 auction. For the historian intrigued by the major wars of the previous century, this certainly stands out as an exciting opportunity to obtain a relic with lasting significance.

Sold for
$2,400