The first is the savings bank of Nevers. Nice building but also nice pastoral scenes of the area.



The second is the savings bank at Douai. Nice obverse, shame about the reverse.



The third is the Bourse de Paris on a jeton of the `Agens de Change de Paris' (aka `stockbrokers'), which just happens to have Napoleon Bonaparte on the obverse, by Tiolier (1813).



The fourth is an old gate to the town of Nevers depicted on a jeton of the Societe Nivernaise.



The fifth is a copper jeton of the head of the Faculty of Medecine in Paris 1746, by DuVivier. It was the reverse that attracted me though. Nice interior view of the court room.

Very nice. The scenics certainly make a pleasing collection in addition to the history that they represent.

Those are nice. Must resist...

Excellent jettons. I love the building designs, they have a lot of depth to them.

Marvelous stuff as usual Ian. Guess which one I really like...

You might also like this one. Same artist, just a different person on the obverse (first restoration of Louis XVIII). ;-)

Although not exactly lifeless, it doesn't have the toning on the reverse to bring it to life like the Napoleon one does.

These are all nice and how would you classify them Jettons, medals

They are all technically `jetons de presence' with (perhaps) the exception of the first one posted (Caisse D'Epargne de Nevers). It is unusually large for a typical jeton but I simply don't have any further data on it to determine one way or the other. Most towns in France had their own savings banks and most of these have issued jetons de presence. Some are quite beautiful, and some are pretty bland and uninspired....a bit like coins in general :-)

There is a fairly fine line between a medal and a jeton at times and sometimes that fine line can get quite blurred. (Very blurred after a glass or two of Talisker single malt!! ).

Fundamentally, `jetons de presence' were made specifically to be given to people attending meetings of the bodies represented as a token of appreciation and recognition for services rendered. For example those attending a meeting of the senate of the Faculty of Medecine would probably receive a silver jeton. Those staff members associated with the everyday running of the faculty might get a copper one. It gets a tad more complicated than that, but that is the general essence. In the case of the Faculty of Medecine, the jeton changed when the Head of Faculty changed. There are jetons for most walks of life in France including most crafts /merchant guilds, professions, public services.

The `royal' jetons (up to 1788) such as the treasury, estates, military administrations (army, navy, artillerie), royal household etcetera make for very interesting collection given that the tradition of giving out jetons in lieu of service was around for a couple of centuries. Many institutions saw a different jeton each year. It's a fascinating subject about which I wish I knew more than I actually do.

Ian

All nice pieces, but the Nevers is outstanding. Beautiful jeton!

Ooh, that first one is fantastic! Love the high relief!

Some more buildings, and a different view of paris from my Avatar (but not that much different......)

1. Town House La Rochelle, 1836



2. Banque de Bordeaux. Jeton was issued between 1845 -59



3. Caisse D'Epargne de Bordeaux (savings bank) after 1880



4. `Trois Ponts'. circa 1798/9. Jeton struck for a body set up to build three iron bridges across the Seine at Paris.