The reverse of this handsome commemorative is an eye-catching little devil springing naked from a fire. He appears to be juggling some small round objects. Round the rim is the Latin legend TUM PRIMUM COGNITA PRAEPES SUBVOLAT which is a quotation from Ovid?s ?Metamorphoses? Book 14, line 577. Translated this means ?Then recognised for the first time the bird of good fortune that flies up ahead.? The relevance is somewhat obscure but may relate to the discovery of nickel. The German word ?nickel? means a mischievous sprite or goblin which the copper miners attributed to ore which looked like the real thing but yielded no copper ?Kupfer-nickel?. Later it was found that a higher temperature produced a silvery metal which was called nickel.Ludwig Mond (1839-1909) was an industrial chemist who founded the Mond Nickel Company. He discovered a process for purifying nickel when working on his previous project producing gas for fuel. He noticed that carbon monoxide eroded nickel valves and found a new compound nickel carbonyl had been formed which would yield pure nickel on further heating.His company extracted nickel ore in Ontario Canada but needed huge amounts of coal for smelting which was mined in South Wales. This explains the design on the obverse of the medallion with daffodils, the symbol of Wales and maple leaves for Canada. The legend reads THE MOND NICKEL COMPANY LIMITED 1900-1925.The medal is made of pure nickel (what else?) and reacts magnetically. The diameter is 44 mm. and the thickness about 3mm. The average weight of examples seen is 44.48gm.Both sides of the medallion bear the initials of the talented engraver Percy Metcalfe who produced designs with style fitting to the Art Deco era. The edge is not decorated in any way.
BIRMINGHAM
Numismatic Society
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