Medalii și decorații din colecția Institutului de Arheologie din Iași (VI)

Abstract

The authors present in this short contribution a series of 15 medals that are part of the numismatic collection belonging to the Institute of Archaeology in Iași. These popular medals were minted by various engravers (Carniol Father and Son, Șaraga, Sternberg, Radivon etc.) in order to commemorate some historical events or some important figures during the Romanian Kingdom period. A first group of medals has a somewhat religious character being linked to the restoration of important churches, pilgrimages or important ecclesiastical figures. The second group of medals is linked with the figures or some important political and social figures that built modern Romania (Ion Brătianu, Lascăr Catargiu, Constantin Angelescu or Take Ionescu). Last but not least, we also present some distinctions that were offered to the children with meritorious results in school and education.

Keywords: Phaleristics; medals and awards; “popular medals”; 19th – 20th centuries; Kingdom of Romania.