Honderdjarig bestaan van de Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij 1924 1924

This bronze commemorative coin, celebrating the centenary of the Dutch Trading Company, was made in 1924 by Johannes Cornelis Wienecke. Look at the details – the marks, the emblems and the text – so finely rendered on this small, weighty object. I imagine Wienecke, carefully carving, making minute adjustments, until the design emerged from the metal. It’s interesting to think what he was thinking. It’s a very formal work, with its heraldic imagery and inscriptions, but there's also something deeply personal about it. The details, so tiny, they speak of time, patience, and care. The leaves and branches that arch over the eagle. I wonder if Wienecke felt the weight of history on his shoulders, commemorating a century of trade and enterprise. Did he see himself as part of that history, contributing his own small mark to the grand narrative? In a way, all artists are in conversation with each other, across time and space. Wienecke's coin is a reminder that even the smallest gesture can have meaning and that art is always a form of communication.