The Industrial Revolution marks the beginning of the Anthropocene – since then, the lives of all humankind and the face of our planet have changed dramatically. The development of the steam engine represents a tremendous milestone among all the technological innovations that now allow us to travel quickly from A to B.
As a means of propulsion for ships and railways, the steam engine ended dependence on natural energy sources such as wind and water and provided economically viable alternatives to the muscle power of humans and animals. New traffic, transport, and trade routes could be established, and natural boundaries such as oceans and mountain ranges could be overcome. This "annihilation of space and time" (Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Geschichte der Eisenbahnreise. Zur Industrialisierung von Raum und Zeit im 19. Jahrhundert [History of Railway Travel: On the Industrialization of Space and Time in the 19th Century], Munich 1977) is the subject of this medal.
Ironically, today's observer might feel a longing for the "good old days," when life wasn't so fast-paced. A journey on an old steam locomotive has become synonymous with a cozy and romantic getaway, while 19th-century contemporaries sometimes feared the power and speed of the "steam horse."
AE Medal 1843
Caqué's stamp, published by Durand, on technological progress through the steam engine.
Av.: TO THE GLORY OF PHILOSOPHERS AND OPERATIVES / 1843, paddle steamer with two masts and sails set, a lighthouse in the background, signed left above the section line: C.
In the section: THE POWER OF STEAM / BRAVES THE QUIET OF THE SEAS / ENCOUNTERS THE CONTRARY WINDS / AND WILL CARRY CIVILAZATION / THROUGH THE WHOLE / UNIVERSE
Reverse: Locomotive with two carriages facing right in front of a detailed and expansive landscape, in the background a railway bridge with another steam locomotive is visible, above it all Fama flying, signed left below the section line: CAQUE F and at the very bottom: DURAND EDITOR.
In the section: THE GENIUS OF RAILWAYS / LEVELS THE MOUNTAINS, RAISES THE VALLEY / CROSSES RIVERS AND FACILITATES / THE COMMERCE OF NATIONS
Diameter: 53 mm, Weight: 74.35 g.
