OEXLEIN, JOHANN LEONHARD (Germ.). A celebrated Medallist, and Gem-engraver, born in 1715 at Nuremberg, died there in 1787. He first learned the principles of the art with a relative, Christian Daniel Oexlein, to whom he was apprenticed as a boy. He later perfected himself at Vienna, where he became acquainted with Bengt Richter, the Swedish Engraver, who was then working for the Imperial House, and with the Italian artist, Sennaro. In 1737, says Nagler, he was appointed Mint-master at Ratisbon, but soon after was employed by the King of Poland for whom he fitted up a new mint, and about 1740, returned to his native city, Nuremberg, where he definitely settled. In 1759 he went to Bayreuth to engrave the Marriage Medal of the Markgrave of Brandenburg ; in 1760, we find him at Würzburg, and three years later at Fulda, in both places engaged in cutting coin-dies for the episcopal mints ; he also visited several times Bamberg, Dresden, and worked at Frankfort-on-M., Mayence, and other cities. So great was his reputation, both as a Medallist and Gem-engraver, that he was employed by many princely houses. Bolzenthal adds that he left behind him the character of an upright man. The following medals by Oexlein have come under my notice : 1740. Silver Wedding of Johann George Leerse, of Frankfort- on-Main ; — 1742. Election of the Emperor Charles VII., R. only; — Coronation Coins and Medals of Frankfort-on-M. ; — Thaler, and Half Thaler, of Hall-am-Kocher; — Preliminaries of the Peace of Breslau ; — 1745. Coronation of Francis I.; — Christmas Medal, commemorating the Peace of Dresden ; — The seat of the Diet transferred from Frankfort-on-M. to Ratisbon ; — 1746. Thaler of Bamberg, Sede Vacante ; — 1747. Third Pregnancy of Maria Theresia; — 1754, Thaler of Würzburg; — Carl Philipp, baron of Greiffenklau, bishop of Würzburg; — Medal of the Sede Vacante of Würzburg; — Thaler of Ratisbon ; — 1755. Thaler of Johann Anton II. of Freiberg, bishop of Eichstätt; — 1756. Thaler of Ratisbon; — 1757. Conventionsthaler of Carl Albrecht zu Schillingsfürst, prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg; — 1759. Marriage of Princess Sophie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, with Markgrave Friedrich of Brandenburg ; — 1760. Marriage of Joseph II. ; — Thaler of Francis I., — struck at Nuremberg from "contribution "money; — Thaler, and Half Thaler of Würzburg; — 1761. Medal of the Sede Vacante of Passau ; — Marriage Medal of Count Ernst Kaunitz and Princess Leopoldine of Oettingen ; — Conventionsthaler and Half Thaler of Adam Friedrich, Freiherr von Seinsheim, bishop of Würzburg ; —Peace Thaler of Nuremberg ;— Golden Wedding of Gerhard von Meinertzhagen and Sarah Elizabeth Schluiter ; — 1762. Conventionsthaler of Francis I.; — 1763. Medals on the Peace of Hubertsburg (several varieties struck for the cities of Frankfort-on-M., Hamburg, Nuremberg, Ratisbon, &c.) ; — Sede Vacante of Ratisbon ; obv. View of Cathedral ; R. Arms ; — Death of Markgrave Friedrich of Brandenburg ; — Accession of Friedrich Christian, Markgrave of Brandenburg; — Thaler, and other currency of Fulda; — Conventionsthaler of Nuremberg (commemorating the Peace of Hubertsburg); — 1764. Ducat, and Conventionsthaler of Heinrich III. of Reuss-Greiz ; — Conventionsthaler and Gulden of Raimund Anton, count of Strasoldo, bishop of Eichstätt; — Election of Joseph II. as King of the Romans, at Mayence; — Medal of Xaver, tutor of Friedrich August II., duke of Saxony, on Saxony's prosperity and security; — 1765. Second Centenary of the Gymnasium of Halle, with bust of bishop Sigismund ; — 1766. Conventionsthaler of Joseph, Prince of Schwarzenberg ;— Paul Praun, of Nuremberg; 45 mill.; — 1768. Tolerance Medal of Stanislaus Augustus of Poland; — 1770. Victories over the Turks ; — Conventionsthaler of Ludwig Friedrich Carl zu Oehringen, Prince of Hohenlohe ; — Conv. Thaler and Gulden of Karl Albrecht zu Schillingsfürst, Prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg; — 1771 . Attempt on the life of the King of Poland ; — 1772. Conventionsthaler of Frankfort-on-Main ; — 1773 . Sede Vacante, Bamberg Thaler with figures of the Emperor Henry II. and Kunigunda; — Marriage medal of Prince Henry XXX of Reuss-Plauen-Gera and Princess Louise Christiane of Palatinate-Birkenfeld ; — 1777. Thaler, and Half-Thaler of Hall-am-Kocher ; — 1779. Medal of the Sede Vacante of Bamberg; — Medal of Heinrich VIII., Freiherr von Bibra, bishop of Fulda, on the Centenary of the death of the first Abbot; — Peace of Teschen ; — 1781. Joseph II. grants religious tolerance to Protestants and Jews; — Conventionsthaler and Gulden of Eichstätt, Sede Vacante; — 1785. Conventionsthaler and Half Thaler of Ludwig Friedrich Carl zu Oehringen, Prince of Hohenlohe ; — 1787. Thaler of the Sede Vacante of Eichstätt; — Undated. Religious Medals commemorating Birth, Christening, Marriage, and other celebrations; — Portrait-medals of Charles VII. ; — Medallic Thaler of Ratisbon, signed : I. L. ?xlein F. ; — Water famine in Silesia ; — Sede Vacante Thaler, with bust of the Emperor Henry II. ; — St. George's Thaler; — August III., King of Poland; — The Emperor Charles VII., 1742; — Coronation of Charles VII. ; — The Emperor Francis I., 1745; — Opening of the Reichstag at Ratisbon, 1745; — Peace of Dresden, 1745; — Election of Maria Theresia, 1747 (2 var.) ; — Birth of the Archduke Leopold of Austria; — Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748; — The Archduke Joseph of Austria elected King of the Romans, 1764 ; — Joseph II. crowned King of the Romans at Frankfort, 1764 (2 var.) ; — Jubilee of Frederick van der Leyen, 1776; — Joseph II. grants freedom of worship to the Jews, 1781 ; — Peace of Paris, 1783 ; — Silver Wedding of Johann van der Leyen and Catharina Goyen, 1785 ; — Paul Praun, 1766 ; 45 mill. (Domanig, n° 378), &c. Bibliography. — Ammon, op. cit. — Bolzenthal, op. cit. — Nagler, op. cit. — Müller and Singer, op. cit. — Paul Joseph u. Eduard Fellner, op. cit. — Friedensburg, op. cit. — Various Sale Catalogues. — Jäck's Pantheon, II, 75. — Catalogus der Nederlandsche en op Nederland betrekking hebbende Gedenkpenningen, 's Gravenhaag, 1906. — Domanig, Die Deutsche Medaille, 1907.
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
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.
NEUSS, JOHANN JAKOB (2.)
NEUSS, JOHANN JAKOB (Germ.). Son of J. J. Neuss Senr. ; Medallist, and Gem-engraver, and owner of a private mint at Augsburg ; born in 1770 ; died in 1847 or 1848. He was apprenticed to J. M. Bückle, on whose appointment as " Hofmedailleur " to the Court of Baden, he became Medallist to the city of Augsburg. After the incorporation of that town in the kingdom of Bavaria, he obtained the title of K. B. Hofgraveur. The medals by Neuss, says Nagler, are of tasteful treatment, and of very careful a...
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NEUSS, JOHANN JAKOB (Germ.). Son of J. J. Neuss Senr. ; Medallist, and Gem-engraver, and owner of a private mint at Augsburg ; born in 1770 ; died in 1847 or 1848. He was apprenticed to J. M. Bückle, on whose appointment as " Hofmedailleur " to the Court of Baden, he became Medallist to the city of Augsburg. After the incorporation of that town in the kingdom of Bavaria, he obtained the title of K. B. Hofgraveur. The medals by Neuss, says Nagler, are of tasteful treatment, and of very careful a...
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NEWTON, SIR ISAAC
NEWTON, SIR ISAAC (Brit.). A famous natural philosopher, born in Woolsthorpe, near Grantham, in Lincolnshire, 25. December 1642, died in London, 20. March, 1727; buried in Westminster Abbey. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1661, where he applied himself to the study of mathematics, becoming professor in 1669. He invented the method of fluxions, established the theory of gravitation, discovered the composition of light, &c. In 1687, encouraged by Halley, he published his "Principia". I...
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NEWTON, SIR ISAAC (Brit.). A famous natural philosopher, born in Woolsthorpe, near Grantham, in Lincolnshire, 25. December 1642, died in London, 20. March, 1727; buried in Westminster Abbey. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1661, where he applied himself to the study of mathematics, becoming professor in 1669. He invented the method of fluxions, established the theory of gravitation, discovered the composition of light, &c. In 1687, encouraged by Halley, he published his "Principia". I...
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NICLAUSSE, PAUL FRANCOIS
NICLAUSSE, PAUL FRANCOIS (French). Contemporary Medallist and Sculptor, born at Metz (Lorraine) ; pupil of Thomas, Ponscarme, and others. He has exhibited at the Paris Salons since 1896 : Two Portraitmedallions; — 1897. Two bronze medals and Four Portraitmedallions in clay ; — 1898. Musique guerri?re, medal (illustrated); — Four Portrait-medallions in bronze: Mme Dupont; — M. Dupont; M. Walter Dailey ; — Dr Henri Bonnet; — 1900. Montyon Prize Medal (59 mill.) ; — 1901. Medal for the "Club d'Unio...
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NICLAUSSE, PAUL FRANCOIS (French). Contemporary Medallist and Sculptor, born at Metz (Lorraine) ; pupil of Thomas, Ponscarme, and others. He has exhibited at the Paris Salons since 1896 : Two Portraitmedallions; — 1897. Two bronze medals and Four Portraitmedallions in clay ; — 1898. Musique guerri?re, medal (illustrated); — Four Portrait-medallions in bronze: Mme Dupont; — M. Dupont; M. Walter Dailey ; — Dr Henri Bonnet; — 1900. Montyon Prize Medal (59 mill.) ; — 1901. Medal for the "Club d'Unio...
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NICOLE, CLAUDE FRANCOIS
NICOLE, CLAUDE FRANCOIS (French). Medallist ; son of a Mintofficial of Besancon, born in that city about 1700, but resided at Nancy from 1726, and died there in 1783. He filled the post of Mint-engraver at Nancy for several years, and engraved a number of medals, some of which are described by Lepage. The first in chronological order is dated 1734, and bears a portrait of Count Palatine, Christian III., duke of Zweibrücken. Saint-Urbain had originally been entrusted with the execution of this p...
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NICOLE, CLAUDE FRANCOIS (French). Medallist ; son of a Mintofficial of Besancon, born in that city about 1700, but resided at Nancy from 1726, and died there in 1783. He filled the post of Mint-engraver at Nancy for several years, and engraved a number of medals, some of which are described by Lepage. The first in chronological order is dated 1734, and bears a portrait of Count Palatine, Christian III., duke of Zweibrücken. Saint-Urbain had originally been entrusted with the execution of this p...
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