I wonder if anyone has much information on this old French Jeton I just acquired from a german seller on ebay..





Does anyone know what it commemorates?

This looks like it could have been a similar one... http://cgi.ebay.fr/LOUIS-XIIII-jeton-cuivr...8QQcmdZViewItem

Otherwise I'm not of much use...

Clive.

The copper version of your jeton is described in CGB's `Jetons XXII' which rather strangely is not on their web site http://www.cgb.fr.

I'm in process of moving location so my reference books are not currently available to me, so I can't give you any more info than is contained in Jetons XXII.

The bust is by Jaques Nilis (N below the bust) is of King Louis XIV of France. CGB believe the bust type to be rare, but frankly I have seen numerous jetons bearing that bust design.

The reverse is the allegorical figure of `La Ville de Paris' (the city of Paris). Paris is seated, leaning on her shield (coat of arms of Paris) holding a platter laden with fruit and a palm (symbolising peace and prosperity?). In the distance is a view of paris city including Notre Dame, all of which is beneath a radiant sun. The `radiant sun' is the sybolic representation of Louis XIV who was also known as `the sun king'. The legend very roughly translates as "it realizes (benefits from) the effectiveness of its will". All very symbolic, as most jetons are. I presume that this particular jeton was issued to demonstrate honour and allegiance to the king. CGB assign it as F.3420. That is, as catalogued by Feuardent.

Your jeton is in a very collectable condition. CGb's example is in much the same condition and they were asking 35 euro for theirs. A bit optimistic perhaps for a copper example, but there you have it.

Hope that helps

Ian

If I have correctly understood the explanation offered by d'Affry, the reverse commemorates the distribution of rice to the citizens of Paris during the 1694 food shortage. The revere is the work of Joseph Roettiers. It was also used on the jeton of the prévôts M. Bases in 1695.

Thanks for the info so far guys.... digesting... still confuzzled :>/

Jetons started as counters for adding prices of goods to determine how much someone owed. Over time, they became annual distributions in place of money, for selected individuals, kind of like a bonus. They were not coins, but they were struck in the same metals as the circulating coins. Since most coins at the time did not carry an actual value, rather were valued based on their metallic content, jetons were essentially the same as money.

The Municipality of Paris was one entity that distributed jetons twice a year to people hold specific positions. The January distribution went to members of the Department of the Municipality. I would guess your token was distributed at that time and the design chosen includes the king on the obverse and the reverse commemorates the public assistance program the municipality ran in the previous year. Records for that year were not include in d'Affry's study, so I would assume they are missing or otherwise destroyed. In 1691 14,750 jetons were distributed in the January ceremony. In 1698, less than half that number.

In August, 8 senior officials received a jeton distribution. They received a purse, typically with an equal number of silver and copper jetons. The mayor received 200 silver, 200 copper. The other seven received 100 of each. The August jetons generally featured the city arms on one side.

Your jeton is likely from the January distribution. We don't know how many were struck, so they could be relatively scarce or rare since they were in essence a financial distribution that had to be funded by the municipality.

I don't know if this helps you understand jetons and your's in particular. I also defer to Ian to correct anything I've said here as he has a better grasp of the topic of jetons in general. I'm still learning.