elverno Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I have never seen so many Lauer tokens in one place!! That's because they're relatively cheap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 1814 Le prince de Blücher, Prussia. 22mm - Details - R in my experience Bramsen - 1503 Yet another Lauer jeton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 c. 1814 Université de France, France. 31mm - Details - scarce, but probably not rare. I've seen a couple of other examples but they were a bit beat up. Our crowd here probably has at least one nicer example among their collections that I haven't yet seen. The last I saw was on the bay a few years back and had obviously been a pocket piece. Though why someone would carry Louis XVIII around in their pocket... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 1814 Peace of Paris, Saxony. 27mm - Details - probably R At the time this jeton was issued Friedrich Augustus' kingdom was considered one of the primary bargaining chips of post-Napoleonic Europe. Saxony had been a loyal ally of France until Napoleon could no longer protect it; the rest of Europe was perfectly aware of this and intended to make Friedrich Augustus pay for that loyalty by partitioning it into oblivion. For that reason I'm sure you don't find this piece very often, the reverse is used on several pieces whose obverses featured the very people intent on destroying Saxony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 1814 L'empereur François visite la Monnaie des médailles, France. 41mm - Details - relatively common Bramsen - 1465 d'Essling - 1519 There is a long tradition of monarchs visiting the Paris Mint throughout the centuries. In return for the honor the mint typically knocked out a medal for the occasion. How elaborate these were depended mostly on the lead time the mint got. After Napoleon's first abdication the Allies sort of milled about in Paris enjoying the sights, and in many cases, the ladies. For those of a less adventuresome bent, at least as far as the ladies, they saw the sites and this medal commemorates Francis I of Austria's visit to the mint. You see quite a few of these medals from this period, particularly Alexander I of Russia's, so I suspect the mint did a brisk business selling them as souvenirs. This is quite plain compared to Alexander's (which I haven't put up yet) and gives you an idea of the politics of a mint. They clearly put the "B" team on the reverse and Gayrard, while a respectable engraver, produced a less than inspiring obverse. I like it though... On the other hand... 1814 L'empereur François visite la Monnaie des médailles, France. 41mm - Details - relatively common Bramsen - 1465 d'Essling - 1519 Isn't it just awful? You can see why I picked up the other to replace this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2009 1814 Louis XVIII débarque à Calais, France. 41mm - Details - fairly common Bramsen - 1406 d'Essling - 1465 I love these Louis XVIII medals from the First Restoration. You'd swear that France had been begging for his return. Nothing could be further from the truth; they were tired of Napoleon, mostly tired of his use of the Army, tired of war and high taxes. The Bourbons only promised to attempt to return to pre-1789, something the thousands of property owners who benefited from the break-up of the nobles' and the Church's huge estates did not look forward to. The Mint on the other hand knew it needed to get on Louis's good side. This is silvered copper or bronze. Usually you see this piece in copper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted August 7, 2009 Report Share Posted August 7, 2009 Vern, had you noticed the ghoulish face by Frances right foot? By accident or design? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 Vern, had you noticed the ghoulish face by Frances right foot? By accident or design? I'd say by accident except engravers were notorious for putting puns and jokes into their medals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 1814 Paix de Paris, Austria. 52mm - Details - probably R Bramsen - 1457 d'Essling - 1509 A beautiful cast medal made of pig iron. While this is probably a rare medal I acquired two of them within weeks of each other and have never seen other examples. And the other: 1814 Paix de Paris, Austria. 52mm - Details - probably R Bramsen - 1457 d'Essling - 1509 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 1814 Le roi Frédéric-Guillaume visite la Monnaie des médailles, France. 41mm - Details - probably R You don't see this particular medal that often. Of course now that I've said something ten of them will show up on the Bay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 1814 Le prince de Schwarzenberg, Austria. 17mmx19mm - Details - scarce Bramsen - 1510 Schwarzenberg was actually a very effective commander who was overshadowed by the politics of having two and sometimes three monarchs traveling with his headquarters. Blucher is much more famous yet it was the army commanded by Schwarzenberg that inexorably pushed Napoleon out of Germany toward Paris and finally brought Napoleon down in 1814. And a Lauer workshop variant: 1814 Le prince de Schwarzenberg, Austria. 17mmx19mm - Details - very scarce Bramsen - 1510 var. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 1814 Paix de Paris, Saxony 25mm - Details - extremely common I suspect that the Saxons commissioned this piece as propaganda. They're almost as common as the fake British guineas of the period. Saxony was slated to be divvied up as spoils to the victors, particularly Prussia and Austria following the wars. This was because of the Saxon king's loyalty to Napoleon almost until the end. A nice example: 1814 Paix de Paris, Saxony 25mm - Details - extremely common On the other hand this variant appears to be quite rare - I realized I had simply stuffed it in the 1814 box and never put it on either my site or Omnicoin: 1814 Paix de Paris, Saxony 25mm - Details - quite rare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted August 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 1814 Alexander Ier de Russie, German States. 23mm - Details - probably common. Bramsen - 1543 I'm guessing that Lauer produced this for sale to the German and Austrian markets because of the legend. At the time Bramsen classified it he may have thought it rare, only found in the Hermitage collection. I found my two examples off of the Bay. Here's the other, a silvered brass example: 1814 Alexander Ier de Russie, German States. 23mm - Details - rarity unknown, only one I've encountered. Bramsen - 1543 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted September 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 1814 Ouverture du congrès de Vienne, Austria. 76mm - Details - in this condition R For every level of improvement in condition, even fractional, add another R. The darn things are huge and made of tin to boot. Usually if you find them at all they are ravaged by tin pest, worn, cracked and generally awful. Almost everyone who was anyone made it onto this medal. The "victories" on the reverse were often just not actual defeats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted September 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 1814 Ouverture du congrès de Vienne, German States. 33mm - Details - R+ The Congress of Vienna medals in general followed a pattern; the obverse at least would feature a multitude of leaders. In this case there are 8 busts. My previous pictures were pretty good but these actually capture the color better. My guess is that the jeton lay reverse side down in a medal cabinet for several decades at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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