Ian

just arrived with me today.......some oxidisation (dark`toning') but still a steal from ebay.

silver jeton struck for the Mines de la Loire (St Etienne). This example struck post 1880... Silver jeton struck for the Compagnie des Mines a Charbon D'Aniche (Aniche coal mines) circa 1890. A nice example of the work of the artist and engraver Jean Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis.

.......another one in relation to river transport on the Rhone. I've waited a few years to get hold of an example of this jeton, which is a good deal scarcer than the one at the start of this thread. If you look closely the name of the boat is the `Sirius' (name on the paddle wheel)

BTW.......We just reached 100,000 views of this thread. A testament to the beauty that is the Swiss Shooting medal.

another couple from my collection, this time issued in 1837 by L'Ocean, yet another maritime assurer. The toning on the second is quite beautiful but unfortunately not picked up by the scanner. I'll dig this one out and re-scan to see if my skills have improved any since producing this particular image. Oh yes,...the first jeton was withdrawn shortly after issue after protests were raised. The second die used provided Neptune with some degree of modesty.

....so what's stopping you?

Thank you

I don't collect beyond 1960, so i'm not up to speed on anything beyond that. I try to stick to before 1900 but i sometimes fAIL. Here's a few more `assurance jetons' from my collection The first was struck for `Le Pilote', a French maritime assurer. The second and third were struck for `Le Neptune' another fairly short lived maritime assurer

The reference book for these is `Numismatique de L'Assurance Francaise' by Raymond Gailhouste. The version i have was printed in 1993 and covers over 1100 different jetons/ medals issued for this industry and its various specialisms from 1670 -1993. There are considerably more when you consider that some were struck in more than one metal, Some assurers only struck one jeton (before disappearing) others have quite a number of different examples over the duration of their existence. Many are scarcer than hen's teeth, some being`reported' as having existed, but no examples known...until one turns up. For me, an interesting subject area and I haven't been keeping tab on how many I have collected to date, but definitely in the '00's for that particular theme. The earliest jeton d'assurance I have is dated 1671 (see below). Issued in 1671 for the Paris `Chambre Des Assurances' during the reign of Louis XIV. The second known design / issue for this theme, the first being the year previous. Although only in VG (my estimate of the grade), i've not seen any better example (so far!)

This one struck for `Le Havre' in 1904, a maritime assurer that is no longer in existence. A nice 3 dimensional piece.

The artist /engraver was indeed Thomas Bernard, who died in 1713. This must have been one of his last pieces of work. The obverse depicts the Virgin Mary The revers shows four people on the ground in prayer, JC in the air with his mother Mary kneeling at his feet. In the exergue is (roughly translated) `The sisterhood of the blessed Virgin Mary, our lady (Notre Dame) of Rouen

Yep. It has probably been passed on by a fair number of hands in the past 300 years. Bear in mind that it is coin grade silver and as such is likely to have ended up used in commerce (in one form or another). The number struck is unknown but unlikely to have been more than a few hundred. I haven't come across many examples of this jeton and the ones I have seen are generally the same or lower grade than my example.

Silver jeton struck in 1712, during the reign of Louis XIV, for the clergy / church wardens of Notre Dame (Rouen).

This one was struck for the Compagnie Royale D'assurances in 1817. Not in the best condition but it was cheap (one of my key collecting criteria)

Much of the Armada remains out of sight over the horizon. One day i'll hopefully get round to scanning them but for now I only usually scan items when I acquire them. i'll shortly add a few that have just docked.

wow!.... my gast has just been well and truly flabbered . That is truly astounding. Well done that man!!

silver jeton struck for `La Bordelaise', a maritime assurer based in Bordeaux

Nice high grade example of the jeton struck for `Les Deux Mondes', another French maritime assurer. Like Lord Nelson, I see no ships.

This one was issued for `La Sphere', another french maritime assurer based in Paris. There were two jeton types issued, both with the same ship / harbour reverse. The one I don't have a copy of has the globe obverse, but without the peop's either side

Have to agree. The marine assurance ones are my favourites. Sadly some of the eye catchers are also pretty rare, and are a challenge to my meagre budget. However i have done not too bad of late Here's one that arrived with me just a couple of days ago A bit more worn than most of the others in my collection,.............. but it was within my price range. Will still be eating sawdust this month however

silver jeton struck for `La Meridionale', a maritime assurer that was based in Bordeaux

it must be great to have pieces like that in hiding just waiting to be rediscovered

a massive (74 mm diameter) chunk of metal struck in 1930 to celebrate the centennial of `Les Trois Compagnies Royales D'assurances'.

yes, it is very well worn and although I can only surmise as to how that has come about, I suspect you are spot on thinking of it as being a pocket piece. It may have been a common item at one point, but there's not many around and when they do appear they are in much the same condition as this one. I was lucky to buy this one from a seller in France, and for only a few quid.

It is 24mm (roughly one inch) in diameter and was struck on a thin silver flan. This example appears to have seen significant `circulation' but it is unlikely to have been passed off as coin of the realm.