"Fruit de la valeur" jetton

[Damiano]

I have no reference for this brass jetton. Maybe has it been striked for the coronation of 1804?

Many thanks

 

[elverno]

I'll look it up. I do know it's quite rare.

[elverno]

A fascinating piece, possibly created as a pattern to see if there was interest in someone funding its production. It's unlisted, and I looked in over a dozen books. There are somewhat similar obverses produced by the Lauer and other Nuremberg workshops in the period 1804-1808 but the bust is not associated with this particular legend. The closest thing I could find dates from 1807:

 

and as you can see the bust faces the other direction. Several examples were available facing right but the legend was a simple Napoleon Empereur. That fact pretty much limits the obverse to 1804 or later, there was some suggestion that Napoleon be proclaimed Emperor as early as 1801-02 but this doesn't seem that early. The reverse is a crude rework of one of the many 1796 jetons of similar theme, such as this one:

 

I'd date it 1804-05, probably Lauer workshop and extremely rare, possibly unique.

[Ian]

A fascinating piece, possibly created as a pattern to see if there was interest in someone funding its production. It's unlisted, and I looked in over a dozen books. There are somewhat similar obverses produced by the Lauer and other Nuremberg workshops in the period 1804-1808 but the bust is not associated with this particular legend. The closest thing I could find dates from 1807:

 

and as you can see the bust faces the other direction. Several examples were available facing right but the legend was a simple Napoleon Empereur. That fact pretty much limits the obverse to 1804 or later, there was some suggestion that Napoleon be proclaimed Emperor as early as 1801-02 but this doesn't seem that early. The reverse is a crude rework of one of the many 1796 jetons of similar theme, such as this one:

 

I'd date it 1804-05, probably Lauer workshop and extremely rare, possibly unique.

 

I'm not a collector of the Lau(f)er type jetons in general. However I do scour about in various recesses of the internet / www for other jetons and i've happened across that particular design jeton (very distinctive bust) on at least two separate occasions in the past two years. Without reference for it (or the inclination to look further) i've thought nothing more of it .....until now that is. Looks like i've let a couple of opportunities go by. :-(

 

Ian

`C'est la vie. C'est la guerre' (as the french would say......)

[Damiano]

Thanks.

In the meantime, I have acquired the catalogue of medals of the "Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche - Sec. XVIII-XIX of Milan" by R. Martini, in which it is mentioned and photographed an example of this jetton (but silver - mm. 27,5). I report the comment:

"The type of reverse remembers the jettons striked on the occasion of the first Italian campaigne. The catalogue of the De Felissent collection (n. 185), describes briefly two examples of the same lot, with a diameter of mm. 32".

The catalogue furnishes no other information.