40 jaar staal in Nederland 1942

This bronze medal, made by Johannes Cornelis Wienecke, commemorates 40 years of steel in the Netherlands. It's really interesting, isn't it, the idea of imprinting industrial processes on a coin like this? I can imagine Wienecke thinking, "How can I make something beautiful out of something so...functional?" The medal presents images of steelworks, rendered with incredible detail and precision. You can almost feel the heat and weight of the molten metal. The design is dense, and it seems to capture the energy and intensity of the steel industry itself. I wonder what Wienecke felt about the industry and its workers. There is a celebration apparent in the art deco sun-ray motif around the steelworks. It makes me think about all the artists who've found inspiration in the everyday, turning factories and machines into subjects of fascination and wonder. Wienecke is part of a bigger conversation, isn't he? Making us see the world in a new way, one medal at a time.