Who was MERLEN, JOHANN BAPTIST ?

MERLEN, JOHANN BAPTIST (Dutch). Medallist and Coin-engraver, of Flemish origin, but who apparently came over to this country from France, where he had been engaged in medal-work under the First Empire. His earliest productions, known to me, are jetons of the Academy of Medicine of Brussels, dated an XII., from which might be inferred that he learned die-sinking, and first practised the art, at Brussels (Vide Revue belge de numismatique, 1874, p. 390). Very little is known of his lite, except that during the reigns of George IV. (from about 1820), and William IV., he filled the post of Assistant-engraver at the Royal Mint under William Wyon, Pistrucci being Chief Medallist. His connection with the British coinage ceased with the accession of Queen Victoria, and I presume that the Engraver, who by then must have been of an advanced age, died about 1837, or at least retired from his office. The following productions are by Merlen, whose name is spelt erroneously Merlin by Kenyon, and Hawkins. They are signed variously : MERLEN F. ; — J. B. MERLEN F. ; — J. B. M. ; and M. Medals. Medical Society of Brussels, dated Messidor an XII (Jeton : Obv. Bust of Andreas Vesalius; signed : MERLEN F.); —Another, with bust three-quarter face ; — Coronation of Napoleon I., 1804 (Obv. BONTÉ DE TITUS SAGESSE DE M. AUR?LE, &c. Napoleon, crowned, borne upon a shield by four warriors ; signed : MERLEN F.) ; — Medal of the Administration of the Registration and State Lands, 1805 (octagonal Jeton, signed on obv. MERLEN F.); — Jeton of the Lodge of St. Victor of the Friends of Victory, at Paris, 1806 (this medalet is struck like a coin, with a milled edge; the signature is : MERLEN F. ; on two columns, the initials J and B); — Jeton of the Foundries of Vaucluse, 1808 ; — Another octagonal — Jeton of the Lodge of Isis, installed at Paris, July 11th 1808 ; — Jeton of the Société galvanique et de Rech. physique, Paris, 26 Mess, (an XII ?) (signed : MERLEN F.); — March of Napoleon I. to Paris after his return from Elba, 1815 (2 var.). Merlen, who had worked for many years at the Paris Medal Mint, was engaged at the Royal Mint in London, on the recommendation of Pistrucci, who had probably made his acquaintance in France. The first coin-dies he engraved in England, of which we have an official record, are those of the Reverse of a Half-crown of George IV., 1820 (executed by an order in council, dated October 10, 1820). In 1823. he was commissioned to engrave the obv. of the Double Sovereign, from a model by the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey, Pistrucci having declined to copy another artist's work, on the ground that it was beneath his dignity to do so, and the Mint-master would not employ Wyon to carry out an order which had been refused by Pistrucci. " But" says Ruding, "this head of the King does not much resemble the model ". Merlen was more clever in the engraving of armorial bearings, as shown on the reverses of the Pattern Crowns, 1825-1829, which are by him. Bibliography. — Kenyon, Gold Coins of England, 1884. — Hawkins, Silver Coins of England, 1887. — H. A. Grueber, Handbook of the Coins of Great Britain and Ireland, 1899. — Ruding, Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain and Ireland, 1840. — S. M. Spink, Catalogue of Mr. Montagu's Collection of Coins from George I. to Victoria, 1891. — Marvin, Masonic Medals, 1880. — Nagler, Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. — Trésor de Numismatique el de Glyptique, 1840. — Edwards, Napoleon Medals, 1837. — Weber, Medals of the XIX. Cent., &c.

Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904

Mint master: In medieval and early modern Germany, the Münzmeister ("mint master", the Latin term is monetarius) was the director or administrator of a mint, a moneyer with responsibility for the minting of coins, or specie. His duties were defined differently at different locations and ages.

MATZENKOPF, FRANZ
MATZENKOPF, FRANZ (Austr.). Mint-engraver and Medallist at Salzburg, circ. 1727-1754. His signature F. M. K. or MK. occurs on currency of Leopold Anton (1727-1744), Jacob Ernst (1745-1747), and Andreas (1747-1753). One of his last works is a medal on the Coronation of the Archbishop Sigismund III., Count von Schrattenbach, 1753, which exists in various sizes and types; — but he did also : R. of Medal on Coronation of Leopold Anton, Count von Firmian, 1727 (obv. by Donner); — Medal on Coronat...
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MATZENKOPF
MATZENKOPF, FRANZ JUNE (Austr.). Son of the last ; Mintengraver and Medallist at Salzburg, 1755- 1805 ; born in 1738, died in 1808. He worked under the Archbishop Sigismund (Graf von Schrattenbach) and later. The currency engraved by this artist is usually signed : F.M. ; — M ; — F. M. K. ; — MK, and comprises the reigns of Sigismund (1753-1771), Hieronymus (1772- 1803), and Ferdinand (1803-1805). By him are also medals: Sede Vacante, 1772 ; — Prize Medal for Mint-workmen. 1766 R. ARTIS MONETA...
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MATZENKOPF, FRANZ XAVER
MATZENKOPF, FRANZ XAVER (Austr.). Son of the last, born in 1767; Mint-engraver and Medallist at Salzburg, 1789-1807; died on 7. February 1844. On the secularization of the Archbishopric in 1809, he worked in the service of Bavaria, but in 1816/17 we find him filling the post of Engraver at the Mint of Vienna. Amongst his productions are : Memorial medal of General Laudon, 1790; — Medal of Merit, with bust on obv. of the Grand Duke Ferdinand III. of Tuscany, 1806 (signed : F. X. M.) ; — Med...
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MAUGENDRE-VILLERS, ÉDOUARD
MAUGENDRE-VILLERS, ÉDOUARD (French). Contemporary Sculptor, born at Gournay-en-Bray (Seine-Inférieure); pupil of A. Dumont. By him are numerous Portrait-medallions, cast in bronze: 1881. Louis Cognard, hostage of the Prussians in 1870 (commissioned by the town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye) ; — 1890. 15 Portrait- medallions in bronze, &c. ; — 1891. 26 Medals and Medallions (among these a medal in bronze, " Instruction maternelle"); — 1894. Salammbo; — Cléopâtre (the two last are Bronze reliefs or...
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