elverno Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 43mm - Details - R BHM - 820 Bramsen - 1435 d'Essling - 1495 Sometimes your photography skills or equipment improve over time and in the case of much of my 1814 images they need replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 48mm - Details - C BHM - 802 Bramsen - 1459 d'Essling - 1511 One of the most common medals struck to commemorate Napoleon's first fall from power. A second example that I never put on omnicoin because of the terrible pictures. I collected this one first and the PVC damage is not my fault... 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 48mm - Details - C BHM - 802 Bramsen - 1459 d'Essling - 1511 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 1814 The Defeat of Napoleon, Great Britain. 25mm - Details - C BHM - 794 Bramsen - 1373 d'Essling - 1456 Pretty common as well. The weak center of the obverse is because the metal was drawn to the reverse to fill in the detail. And a second, this one in copper. BHM lists it in silvered copper and brass. I suppose this could have been silvered at some point but there's no evidence of it: 25mm - Details - C Same references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 c. 1814 Friedrich Wilhelm III, Prussia. 24mm - Details There were hundreds of jetons issued in 1814 and 1815 that simply never got cataloged in the standard references. This dates from around 1814. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Nice medals and the photography is quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 c. 1814 Friedrich Wilhelm III, Prussia. 23mm - Details Scarce to rare. This is the first of these I've ever seen and given the reverse image could date to 1813 and the War of Liberation. I suspect 1814 though, relatively little production happened in the Nuremberg and Furth workshops in 1813, probably because of the unrest in Germany in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 27mm - Details - RR BHM - 822 Bramsen - 1437 d'Essling - 1485 Eimer, Wellington - 52b This group is interesting for a couple of reasons. Here's the primary one; the four were all with the armies that eventually forced Napoleon to abdicate. Ironically Francis II and Schwarzenberg, the Austrians, are missing here. It makes sense in historical context; Austria (and Metternich) were mistrusted by the British, suspected rightly of always working toward a peace that primarily benefited Austria. On the other hand the Austrians provided the bulk of the troops involved in much of the fighting in 1813 and 1814. Without Austria Napoleon almost certainly could have weathered the coalition against him until it dissolved of its own accord. Even so, by the time the allied armies reached France's borders the Russian army was loudly complaining about wanting to go home. Of the portraits only Blucher with his trademark moustache really resembles the person attributed. The King of Prussia is sort of generic, as is Alexander of Russia (though his sideburns show up quite well). Wellington simply doesn't look at all like other representations. The nose is there but it's giant, and not the slender aristocratic slope usually shown. Of course, maybe that's how Wellington really looked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 1814 The Restoration of the Bourbon Dynasty, Great Britain. 25mm - Details - RR BHM - 801 Bramsen - 1398 It wasn't a sure thing that Louis XVIII and the Bourbons would return to the throne of France. By the time Napoleon returned from Elba the British were regretting having supported the Bourbon cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Lovely medals, at least when you take new pictures you get to handle them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Lovely medals, at least when you take new pictures you get to handle them again. Very true. In fact every wave of image upgrades to my site seems to come on the heels of getting a box out of the safe. It ends up sitting on my desk for weeks as I start looking through it. The next thing I know I've gotten up and walked over to the camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 1814 The Defeat of Napoleon, Great Britain. "Inseperable Friends" 25mm - Details - N BHM - 796 Bramsen - 1415 d'Essling - 1464 One of the most famous tokens of the Napoleonic era. Although quite common, at least in brass, you usually find them holed and worn. Notice that while there are again four men mentioned on the obverse poor old Francis II is still out of luck though Schwartzenberg replaces Blucher. 1814 The Defeat of Napoleon, Great Britain. "Inseperable Friends" 25mm - Details - RR And the rare silvered copper version, holed for wear as is common with this piece. Notice the stronger obverse strike on copper vs. the brass. Finally the more common plain copper version. This was the first I had ever seen of this and, of course, I ended up in a bidding war with another noobie. To be fair though, you don't see these as often as the brass. 1814 The Defeat of Napoleon, Great Britain. "Inseperable Friends" 25mm - Details - N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 1814 Centenary of the Accession of the House of Brunswick, Great Britain. 50mm - Details - R BHM - 781 PVC damage ruins this nearly perfect example of a rare medal. Sigh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 25mm - Details - N BHM - 807 Bramsen - 1446 Until a few moments ago this had the oldest pictures on my site. The were so bad I had never put it up on omnicoin. This is the sort of medal I used to pick up for $2 at a show. Gone are the good ol' days... A more typical example is the one that follows: 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 25mm - Details - N BHM - 807 Bramsen - 1446 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 This is the sort of medal I used to pick up for $2 at a show. Gone are the good ol' days... What does it go for now? And the "Defeat of Napoleon" above has a great design!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 What does it go for now?And the "Defeat of Napoleon" above has a great design!! The Blucher would probably go as high as $40-50 in its condition though it would depend on who was bidding of course. I always wondered about the "Inseperable Friends". Since the Allies essentially captured Napoleon (and the British felt they were the primary ones) who does that make the Devil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 1814 Peace and Commerce, France. 24mm - Details - probably RR+ This was issued in April 1814. Napoleon had literally abdicated at the beginning of the month and the Allies were still wrangling over several options for the French monarchy, of which Louis XVIII and the Bourbons were only one of the choices. Most of the others were actually more attractive but the British had basically committed themselves to Louis XVIII and raised heaven and earth to accomplish it. Here's a link to a political cartoon issued at this precise time which shows the ambivalence that prevailed. It turns out I had never put this or two other examples (one in brass and another similar) on omnicoin. No idea why except that Louis XVIII has always annoyed me as a historical figure (like Napoleon III) so I tend to ignore him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 25mm - Details - RRR BHM - 811 Another rare piece issued in the early spring of 1814. This one featured Louis XVIII who had been mooching off the British Court for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 1814 La France rendue à l'Europe, France. 36mm - Details Bramsen - 2122 Struck on 5 franc planchets shortly after Napoleon's first abdication. This was a series with different reverses for each of the conquering monarchs but I've never actually seen one except this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. "The Prince Regent" 25mm - Details - R Medals with George IV as Regent are actually pretty scarce. Most of his "war-time" medals were produced during his reign, essentially back-dated. This is contemporary with 1814. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 1814 Coronation of William I, Netherlands. 23mm - Details I know almost nothing about this piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 43mm - Details - R BHM - 817 Bramsen - 1443 At the Peace of Paris talks things were beginning to get out of hand from the British perspective. So they invited everyone to travel to London, effectively stopping a juggernaut of agreements that threatened British priorities and transferring the talks themselves to the famous Congress of Vienna. Field-Marshal von Blücher was a popular figure; gruff, older and tending to speak his mind rather than diplomatically he caught the British public's imagination. Alexander managed to sour public opinion by his actions but Blücher remained popular throughout his visit, receiving a doctorate from Oxford and being named a citizen of the City of London among other honors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted July 6, 2009 Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 Part of a letter from Earl Percy, Northumberland House, 6th June, 1814 to Edward Thomson, abridged: To-morrow the Empereor of Russia & the King of Prussia will arrive in town(London) Blucher & Platow, who are on their way, will probably accompany them. If you have any artist in London whom you employ, I think I can put him in the way of taking a likeness of Blucher and Platow. We tend to forget that though the likeness of a foreign monarch might well be available from a portrait or sculptor the lesser mortals though, like Blucher, well know from dispatches but no images available, posed a problem for producing a medal, especially at short notice, with an accurate representation of the personage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 1814 Peace and Commerce, France. 24mm - Details d'Essling - 1481 Another example of a medal issued immediately after Napoleon's abdication in order to push Louis XVIII and the Bourbon's claim to the throne of France. Notice the use of "King of the French" instead of "King of France". This is a clear indication of timeframe (even if it wasn't dated) because Louis hated the first legend. He was "King of France" in his mind, a possession, and not the King of the French people who owed him allegiance by divine right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 1814 The Restoration of the Bourbon Dynasty, Great Britain. 25mm - Details - probably R+ This is unlisted in silvered copper in BHM. When British Historical Medals omits a metal or metal combination you can usually expect that it is at least rare. An unusual and unflattering portrait of Louis XVIII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 1814 The Peace of Paris, Great Britain. 25mm - Details - N BHM - 809 Bramsen - 1445 An odd piece in that Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia is shown in a portrait more in keeping with the previous century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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