text: Bernhard Weisser
The Walter Hävernick Award for Numismatics, designed by Carsten Theumer
Front: A hilly landscape, from which the outlines and shape of a crouching owl emerge in three-quarter view. Covered by a grid made of strings that stretches towards the outer edge; flanked by two measuring rods topped with flags. In the left field, the signature T. Back: WALTER / HÄVERNICK / AWARD FOR / NUMISMATICS. Inscription in four lines, outer line.
Coin Collection, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Acc. 2015/119, object no. 18247620 (specimen copy). Bronze, 92 x 111 mm Date: 2015
The Walter Hävernick Award for Numismatics is awarded to young talent by the Numismatic Commission of the German Länder (“Numismatische Kommission, der Länder”, www.numismatische-kommission.de; German only). The award aims to support the further development of numismatic research in Germany and consists of a medal and a certificate. The award also comes with a prize of €2,000 to fund the printing of a young scientist’s outstanding scientific dissertation or monograph. The award honours an exemplary work that breaks new scientific ground, has an effect beyond the boundaries of the author’s own field and is exemplary in its linguistic design. At the time of writing, the award has been presented four times: To Angela Berthold in 2012; to Philipp Rössner and Johannes Wienand for their works of equal quality in 2013; and to Alexa Küter in 2014.
The medal was designed by sculptor and medallist Carsten Theumer (www.medaillenkunst.de), who works in Halle (Saxony-Anhalt); the German Society of Medallic Art (“Deutsche Gesellschaft für Medaillenkunst”) provided technical and financial support. The front of the medal does not bear the portrait of the worthy numismatic after whom the award has been named; instead, it is the result of the artist’s contemplations on the nature of numismatics. To many people, the Athenian image of the owl, shown crouching towards the right in three-quarter view, is the definitive symbol of numismatics; numismatic clubs and collectors have chosen the owl as their emblem. The Numismatic Commission of the German Länder, donor of this medal that is not available for purchase, has also incorporated the owl into its logo; besides being Athena’s companion, the owl also symbolises the goddess’ wisdom and intelligence. Theumer has manifested the owl as the emblem of numismatics, playing with this symbolism on several levels: with his extremely abstract and encoded portrait of the owl, Theumer draws a parallel to the perception of numismatics as a hermetically sealed scientific discipline. At first glance, numismatics, too, often appears mysterious, open only to the initiated. The medallist has concealed the animal beneath a dishevelled landscape of hills and valleys; thus we cannot identify the owl as such at first. But the landscape has been measured and thus put into a system of coordinates. The loose strings in the measuring system remind us that numismatics still has questions that need answering and connections that need to be made. Theumer’s medal reminds the award winners that Athena’s wisdom and skill are the traits they too will need to use: to decipher the medal and, no less, to answer numismatic questions.