Netherlands, Groningen Silver Medal 1850 Inauguration of the new Academy Building - By van der Kellen EF-

Netherlands, Groningen. Silver medal commemorating the inauguration of the new Academy Building, 1850. By David van der Kellen.

Obverse: frontal view of the Academy Building with its columned portico. Above: SPLENDEAT · VSV — “May it shine through use”. Below: ACADEMIAE · GRONINGANAE / TEMPLVM.

Reverse: nine-line Latin inscription within a tied laurel wreath, surmounted by a radiant sun. The inscription records the commencement of construction on 1 May 1846, at the initiative of Herman de Ranitz, and the inauguration on 25 September 1850, amid the acclaim of the citizens.

The medal depicts the nineteenth-century Academy Building of the University of Groningen, partly financed by the city’s inhabitants and subsequently destroyed by fire on 30 August 1906. It preserves a detailed architectural view of this lost university building.

A corresponding silver example is held by the Rijksmuseum, inventory number KOG-MP-2-0202.

References: Dirks 711; Jaarboek voor Munt- en Penningkunde 70 (1983), p. 113, no. 9.

Silver. Weight: 17.7 g. Diameter: 42.5 mm.

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