Labor & Virtue – A Seventeenth-Century Lesson in Silver

What makes honor worth having? Labor & Virtue, Mint Club #9, turns that question into a richly symbolic 2 troy ounce .999 fine silver round. Its design draws on Book I, Illustration V of George Wither’s A Collection of Emblemes, Ancient and Moderne, published in 1635.

The Meaning Behind the Emblem

“By Labor, Virtue may be gained. By Virtue, Glory is Attained.”

Wither’s accompanying verse challenges the idea that fine clothes, inherited wealth or an impressive family name automatically deserve respect. The distinction he values is earned through conduct and effort. The motto therefore gives the busy landscape a purpose: work leads toward character, and character toward lasting honor.

Emblem books joined pictures, short mottoes and explanatory verse. Readers were invited to look closely and then consider how a scene could express a moral idea. Wither supplied English verse for an existing tradition of engraved emblems; the book should not be understood as a set of images all drawn by him. This modern silver interpretation carries that reflective approach into a different medium.

Obverse Design

Mountains rise in the distance while people perform different tasks on either side of the scene. A shovel occupies the foreground, accompanied by a snake holding a laurel wreath in its mouth. The tools, activity and wreath connect the physical business of labor with the honor described in the motto.

The result rewards a second look. Instead of presenting a single portrait, the round offers a small symbolic landscape whose details work together to tell its story.

Mint Club Reverse and Specifications

The reverse features a spread-winged eagle beneath a crown, holding a flowing ribbon over a diamond-patterned field. LIMITED MINTAGE and MINT CLUB frame the design. The stated total mintage is 500, with the TWO TROY OUNCES .999 FINE SILVER hallmark along the lower border.

• Weight: 2 troy ounces
• Purity: .999 fine silver
• Diameter: 39mm
• Thickness: Approximately 6mm
• Edge: Reeded
• Finish: Brilliant Uncirculated
• Total mintage: 500

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