A Rare Gold Theodor Herzl Medal

Abstract

A rare and unusual medal struck in gold presents Theodor Herzl as a Moses-like figure contemplating
the Holy Land from afar. This is most likely a commemorative tribute issued sometime after
Herzl’s death in 1904. Also noteworthy is a flag featuring seven pentagonal stars arrayed in two
rows in one field, with a second field displaying a conventional Magen David, an arrangement
that is unlike all other known Zionist flag images. The relatively unsophisticated modeling
of the figures and the unconventional flag suggests a Middle Eastern rather than a European
locus of issue.