FRENCH COIN COLLECTING ?
Medals and Jetons
| At this point in time, two different items in French numismatics, make their appearance: medals and jetons. Improvements in technology made it possible, from the time of Henri IV, to strike superb medals which have become very rare, especially those made of silver .The only medals to be found at a reasonable price are those struck during the reign of Louis XIV, numismatic king who decided to have his whole reign depicted in medals . For example, we recently sold a superb example of the medal commemorating the liberation of Quebec, dating from 1690, for 1 500 francs ( less than three hundred dollars ) |
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A jeton, struck for the French colonies of America, under Louis XV. |
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A jeton from Paris, with a view of the city from the Seine. In the foreground Henri IV bridge. Estimated at : 300 FRF |
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The royal, bimetallic jetons are the first objects to be struck in two metals since Roman times. Estimated at : 2 500 FRF |
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The jeton, which is a small and prestigious medal, struck by the big administrations, by the nobles and by corporations, often made of silver, sometimes of bronze, makes an exciting and very varied theme of collection, with several tens of thousands of jetons struck before the Revolution. Again, the prices are very low, with, for example, a superb silver token, distributed to the royal surgeons, sold for nine hundred francs (a little over a hundred and fifty dollars ). |
| A XVIth century jeton. On one side, a money-changer counting his tokens on a change- counter, the exchequer. On the other side, the alphabet ; some money-changers probably needed to be reminded of it ! |  |
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A silver medal, struck in 1667 to commemorate Louis XIV's constructions. stimated at : 3 000 FRF |
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A silver medal from Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Estimated at : 3 500 FRF. |
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A silver medal struck by Louis XVI to celebrate the Versailles Treaty of 1783. Estimated at : 3 500 FRF |
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A silver medal of the 'Confederatio' of the French, struck for 14th July 1790 in the reign of Louis XVI. Estimated at : 2 500 FRF.
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A masonic silver token, struck in 1807 for the 'Loge de St Michel'. Estimated at : 2 800 FRF. |
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A portrait of Louis XIII, on a jeton from the town of Nancy. Estimated at : 2 500 FRF. |
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A medal of a deputy to the Parliament 1844 session, in the reign of Louis-Philippe. Estimated at : 1 200 FRF. |
