BOHEMIA. Prag (Prague), circa 1600-1650. Cast Medal (Silver, 56 mm, 47.43 g, 12 h), so-called 'Judenmedaille'. On Karl IV of Luxemburg, Holy Roman Emperor (1316-1378). D•CARLOUS•IIII•ROM - IMP•P•F•AUG•GER•BOHE•REX Crowned and draped bust of Karl IV facing slightly to left, holding scepter in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left. Rev. ✠ DUX•SILES•MARCHIO•MORAVI•LUSAT•COM•LUTZEMB• / NULLIUS•PAUET•OCCORSUM Lynx standing left. Bernhart 4 var. (gold). Klein B 16. Köhler XVIII, 233. Weiller 5. A rare, nicely toned and beautifully crafted medal. The usual contemporary tooling, otherwise, about extremely fine.



The finely rendered lynx on the reverse was probably intended as a visual pun on Luxembourg. In early modern German, 'Luchs' (‘lynx’) could also be written 'Lux', creating an obvious phonetic and graphic association with 'Luxemburg'.

Etymologically, however, the resemblance is coincidental: 'Luchs' derives from an ancient Germanic word for the animal, whereas 'Luxemburg' goes back to the medieval place-name Lucilinburhuc, commonly understood as meaning ‘little castle’ or ‘small stronghold.’ First associated with Count Siegfried of the Ardennes’ acquisition of the Bock promontory in 963, the name later developed through forms such as 'Lützelburg' into modern 'Luxemburg/Luxembourg'. The lynx may therefore be understood as an ingenious rebus, exploiting a contemporary but etymologically unfounded association between two words of entirely different origin.