Ian Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 The `Heur/ Malheur' janiform heads of Good luck and Bad Luck is the common obverse for a series of french silver gaming tokens originally struck after 1832. Each jeton in the series carries its own little gem of wisdom or worthy observation in relation to the topic of `gambling'. The one below depicts a tempest with `tranquility' at the centre...along with the words `calme au milieu des orages' in the exergue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 ‘Calm amid the storms’ ? Very nice piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 Yep. That is indeed the literal translation. Perhaps the message underpinning it is that your fortune is best served by keeping your cool while everyone around is losing theirs (?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted January 23, 2019 Report Share Posted January 23, 2019 Gaming? How were they using these tokens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2019 I'm not 100% sure to be honest, but i would hazard a guess that it would be along the same lines as casino chips (grub stakes ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted January 24, 2019 Report Share Posted January 24, 2019 These must've been worth more than your typical $1 chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2019 yes..........but I have to say that the silver USA gambling chips i've actually seen are denominated for $10, not $1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 another `heur et malheur'. This time with `abundance' dancing on a sphere while her fortune spills out to the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 yet another `heur et malheur' piece. This one has cupid blindfolded (love is blind') along with the legend `qui que tu sois, voici ton maitre. Il l'est le fut ou le doit etre'....roughly translated it means `whoever you are, here is your master. he is now and always will be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted February 7, 2019 Report Share Posted February 7, 2019 Well, I don't know what to think of that legend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2019 .........the sense (or lack of!) to be drawn from this piece is likely to be dependent upon how much alcohol is in your body at any given point in time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted June 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2019 The reverse legend on this one translates as `the night brings games and pleasures' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showmetheBUcoins! Posted July 7, 2019 Report Share Posted July 7, 2019 love these jetons, i have one myself but i doubt it's a gaming token even though it is silver and octagonal. Do these turn up with lustre at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted July 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2019 they used to appear fairly frequently on ebay.fr, some of them in very high grade......but not so frequently now in present time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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