Watercolor of a Jewish money clipper with scales

The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures. 

The painting was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family. 

Watercolor of a Jewish money clipper with scales 

overall: Height: 5.875 inches (14.923 cm) | Width: 4.500 inches (11.43 cm) 

Small, watercolor painting of a Jewish coin clipper at work, likely created in 18th century Europe. He is depicted with a beard and sidelocks, which are traditionally worn by Jewish men. Coin clipping was the illegal practice of removing small pieces of metal from coins. Until modern times, coinage was hammered from precious (and soft) metals such as silver or gold, resulting in coins that were not perfectly round. Furthermore, normal wear from use would exacerbate their irregular shapes. Unscrupulous individuals would take advantage of these irregularities and remove slivers off the edges of the coins. The pieces were then melted down, either into a bar and sold to a goldsmith, or used to make counterfeit coins. Coin clipping was widespread throughout Europe, and Jews were often accused of the practice. Jews were barred from owning land, farming, joining trade guilds, and military service. These restrictions forced many Jews into occupations such as money changing or money lending. Additionally, medieval religious belief held that charging interest (known as usury) was sinful, and the Jews who occupied these professions were looked down upon, predominantly by European Christians. They were perceived as morally deficient, greedy, and willing to engage in unethical business practices. Many people thought money clipping was a common Jewish practice due to the disproportionate number of Jews in who worked with currency, combined with antisemitic stereotypes of Jew’s deviousness and greed. The painting is one of more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials. 

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Small, watercolor painting on cream-colored paper depicting a man seated in a brown, wooden chair behind a table. On the blue table-top is a shallow bowl of silver coins, gold coins scattered across the surface in several groups of various small sizes, and a balance scale with small weights beside it. The man holds-up a large pair of silver-colored scissors, pointed ends up, in his right hand, and a gold coin in his left. He is looking off to his left with a furrowed brow. He has wavy gray hair and short beard and sidelocks the same color. He has a large, pointed nose, thick eyebrows, ruddy cheeks, and small, bright red lips. He wears a low, wide-brimmed black hat and a bright blue cloak over a brown, button-up jacket. The background is black and blends in with the thin, black line border around the image. There is a cream-colored margin around the image, which is bordered by a narrow, brown line border with decorated red corners. The paper is worn and discolored throughout, especially on the back where traces of a frame are visible.