constanius Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Obv. Peace standing emptying cornucopia onto seashore, barrel to left inscribed TO FRANCE ships in background, THEY SHALL PROSPER THAT LOVE THEE Exe. 1814 signed KettleRev. THE / LIBERTIES / OF EUROPE RESTD. / BY THE UNITED / EFFORTS OF ENGLAND / AND HER / AUGUST ALLIES / THE / PRELIMINARIES / OF PEACE SIGNED / MAY 30 / 1814BHM#808 AE N. Br. N. This is AE but heavily gilded, not listed as such.Though Brown lists this as normal rarity it certainly does not surface very often, I have never seen one in such great condition before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Neat! Was the hole as issued, or was it added by someone at the time to attach a ribbon to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 That's the best example I've ever seen. Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Very nice medal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 BTW, in all my years of collecting I've not managed to acquire an 808 much less something as spectacular as this example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted June 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Neat! Was the hole as issued, or was it added by someone at the time to attach a ribbon to? They were both sold holed(for wearing with a ribbon) and also sold sans hole. With coins(especially modern ones) a hole is not good but with these old medals it does not matter so much, especially if purchased with hole. That said if I had a choice between 2 examples of the same medal, same grade, I would pick the unholed one....unless the holed one came with its original suspension ribbon or hanger. If an old medal is holed after market it is normally easy to spot, as until modern times most people just drove a nail through them! After market nail-holed. Sold holed for use with ribbon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted June 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 BTW, in all my years of collecting I've not managed to acquire an 808 much less something as spectacular as this example. Clearly then the rarity of N. is incorrect, thanks for the info Vern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 "Normal" is sort of an odd rarity, after all if there were only 500 struck what's normal about that? With the survival rate something 200 years old is actually rare by most peoples' standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Beautiful medal. As you note, I would go for no hole, but I'm a sucker for an original ribbon or hanger when I find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Thanks for the explanation and examples! I have to say that in my experience with older coins, I usually encounter square nail holes more often than round nails through the mid-1800s, at which point round nails seem to predominate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadavies2007 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Hello everyone. I am awfully sorry to resurrect an old topic but I have this medal. In much the same condition, also with a hole. As it was a gift from a friend who found it in the cellar of his house. He found two coins and I chose this one. I know precious little about it. I know it is the Peace of Paris etc but not why such medals were struck, made from etc. Any info would be fantastic. I search the internet every couple of years or so for info and this is the first time I have found a forum about this medal with the same engravings. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Welcome to CoinPeople You are very fortunate to have such a generous friend! Commemorative medals, like this one, were made to be sold to the general public, as opposed to medals award for acts of valour or millitary campaigns etc. Commemoratives can be loosely divided into two types, small inexpensive ones or large and higher priced ones. Each of these types were produced in various metals or alloys. Generally the smaller ones, which are sometimes referred to as tokens, jetons etc, were often made from brass, copper(these were often gilded or silvered), or white-metal(WM), the larger ones bronze, silver, gold or WM. There were numerous medals issued to celebrate, what was thought to be, the end of the Napoleonic wars which had ravaged Europe. This one shows images representing Peace & the return of trade between Britain & France & the wealth it would create. It was issued by Thomas Kettle of Birmingham, England. The inscription "They shall prosper that loves thee" comes from the Bible and the thee stands for peace, on the barrel is written "To France" & Peace holds an olive branch & cornucopia, merchant ships are also depicted. Unfortunately Napoleon escaped from his exile on Elba, which led to his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, but every cloud has a silver lining, in this case it was another opportunity for the commemorative medal/token makers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadavies2007 Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I really do appreciate it. I have always been keen to find out a little more about this, particularly as the friend who gave it to me is no longer with us - so it holds a lot of memories for me. Being a big kid at heart I am always blown away when an item survives intact for such a long period of time. I'd love to know who lost it in the cellar though! many thanks again Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJane Posted July 26, 2015 Report Share Posted July 26, 2015 Very interesting. I have one of these medals. Rather poor condition though...some gold missing in a couple of small spots. What is this medal worth please $$$? And were there really only 500 of them struck? Mine has a hole in it. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 The number of 500 was just used as an example by Elverno in his post. That said, it is possible that 500+ were struck. Rarity of tokens/medals is judged by the numbers that are estimated to have survived in collectible condition , as it is seldom know how many were struck. The monetary value of one of these in "rather poor condition" would be minimal. Without a picture it is very hard to give value on medals/tokens. Its value lies more in the history it contains. This link http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,31511.msg199025.html#msg199025 is of one of my posts which gives some background to the medal and includes tales of smuggling, gold & powerful people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted April 6, 2017 Report Share Posted April 6, 2017 Just saw what appears to be this same medal, in copper, on FleaBay and remembered this topic from a few years back... http://www.ebay.fr/itm/RARE-jeton-cuivre-PRELIMINARIES-OF-PEACE-SIGNED-MAY-30-1814-24-mm-A-VOIR-/112361345937?hash=item1a29421391:g:TGAAAOSwMgdXxyNN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokerman Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 Very nice medal, and extremely nice condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted April 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Been in Chicago for a few days, just arrived back, so a bit late replying. Thanks for resurrecting the topic as I should have added these before now. This is a brass version, This is AE with a different reverse inscription, This is the same reverse as above, but the obverse, unsigned by Kettle, inscription reaches to the exergue and is extremely rare, plus silvered is not listed, possibly unique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokerman Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Really nice! Same reverse as on "The inseparable friends": http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php/topic/34267-can-you-separate-the-inseparable-friends-of-1814/?hl=elba&do=findComment&comment=602446 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokerman Posted April 29, 2017 Report Share Posted April 29, 2017 Same theme, with Blucher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted April 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2017 Same theme, with Blucher. Looks like you/OmniCoin have been hacked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokerman Posted May 2, 2017 Report Share Posted May 2, 2017 LOL. When I logged into omnicoin the medal was totally removed. All the others were there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted May 4, 2017 Report Share Posted May 4, 2017 Ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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