GERMANY. Hamburg. Medal 1841 (Silver, 43 mm, 43.95 g, 12 h), on the return of Moses and Judith Montefiore from their mission to Egypt. By Nathan Bros. למען אחי ורעי אדברה נא שלום בך (Psalm 122:8: 'For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say: ‘Peace be within you' in Hebrew) / שנת גאון ישראל לפ״ק (Hosea 5:5: 'The year ‘Pride of Israel’ in Hebrew) Two helmeted coats of arms, supported by a lion and a stag. Rev. GEWIDMET VON IHREN GLAUBENSGENOSSEN IN HAMBURG around SIR MOSES / MONTEFIORE / UND / LADY MONTEFIORE / NACH / IHRER RÜCKKUNFT / AUS / AEGYPTEN / IM JAHRE / 1841 in ten lines. Edge inscription: PRESENTED TO J. B. COHEN BY THE WIDOW OF THE LATE .J. LAZARUS. ESQ. 1864. Böttcher 511. Gaedechens 2073. Wolf IV. Wurzbach -. A very rare and lightly toned prooflike medal. Tiny marks and edge nicks, otherwise, good extremely fine.



Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885) was one of the nineteenth century's most influential Jewish philanthropists and communal leaders. After amassing a considerable fortune as a London financier, he retired from business at the age of forty and dedicated the remaining six decades of his life to humanitarian and religious causes. Through a series of diplomatic missions together with his wife Judith (1784-1862) they intervened personally on behalf of persecuted Jewish communities, securing relief, advocating for civil rights, and negotiating directly with monarchs and government officials.

Convinced that lasting improvement depended on economic independence rather than charity alone, the Montefiores financed schools, hospitals, almshouses, agricultural settlements, and vocational enterprises throughout the Holy Land. Among their most enduring achievements was the establishment of Mishkenot Sha'ananim, the first Jewish residential neighborhood built outside Jerusalem's Old City walls, a landmark in the city's modern expansion. Their philanthropy combined deep religious conviction with practical vision, fostering education, self-sufficiency, and communal renewal, while making them internationally respected advocates for Jewish welfare and one of the defining couples of nineteenth-century Jewish history.