constanius

Found this in an antique store in Florida, spotted it in a jewelry cabinet. Seeing the fleur-de-lis, the axe & what looked like it could be Louis XVI I took it for a medal & pinback holder with a safety chain and axe commemorating Louis's death by guillotine. Using an axe to represent his death by guillotine was used on other medals, the guillotine was really just a mechanical axe. Bear in mind that the medal is only 23mm X 17mm. When I looked at the reverse of the medal it was stamped sterling which was commonly used in the USA at that time without any makers marks(unlike England) so I assumed it was made for the French emigres in the US. The fleur-de-lis is silver plated but both the axe & medal are silver. As you can see the medal is in fact George Washington, at first I thought some enterprising US jeweler had just used a small Washington medal instead of bothering to make one of Louis, hoping to pass it off, it being so small. I would have dated it between 1793 to 1814. Then I thought perhaps it has nothing to do with Louis & was meant to be Washington, the axe makes sense but the fleur-de-lis is a problem. But Washington did have a boxwood parterre in the shape of a fleur-de-lis at Mount Vernon which is thought to represent his friendship with Marquis de Lafayette and to pay tribute to the French for helping America win the Revolutionary War. That would date this then to 1799 or later. So my current theory is that perhaps a French emigre in the USA wore this circa 1800(or earlier?) to commemorate George Washington. In any event it was a steal for $18.

Very nice example! Yes she does look like Anne. Here is mine(needs new pics), which you can see is a variant of BHM 47, the most obvious differences are the bow extension & the pearl necklace. Yours is the one illustrated in BHM.

Perhaps it is the same one, this came from Indiana, USA. You obviously thought it was worth a punt then, have you any thoughts on the medal itself? By the by I lived in Watford, Hertfordshire when I was a young buck. Did you see this post http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?/topic/33167-earl-of-essex-cashiobury-card-counters-1725/

Also look great in copper, well done that man.

Obv. Crown above the Union Spray of rose, thistle & shamrock, pair of clasped hands below. QUIS SEPARABIT(Who shall separate?) Rev. Man-of-War within an oval frame adorned with rose, thistle and shamrock. AE 24mm, struck sans collar..... unlisted? I can find no reference for this medal/token. A Queen Anne's coronation(1702) medal used QUIS SEPARABIT in connection with the her being crowned Queen of England, Scotland & Ireland,the edge of that medal was inscribed: UNITED BY GOD IN LOVE AND INTEREST. Another medal struck at about the same time was for her appointing her husband, Prince George of Denmark, generalissimo of all English military forces and Lord High Admiral. This leads me to belief that this medal might also have been struck about that time and commemorates both the coronation(Crown) & her husband's naval appointment(Ship) and of course the 3 kingdoms joined in love & interest. Any suggestions & comments most welcome, though I will be in Florida on holiday so might not reply promptly.

I assumed the obverses depict the boxed orange trees within an orangerie and was trying to figure out what was between the lines of boxes, I could only come up with seed beds with decorative adornments of small orange trees at each corner, which would make sense if the view was from inside the orangerie. Any other ideas? CULTORI would then seem to be even more relevant to the obverse and oranges and, by extension, lean to it being oranges on the reverse. The Greek botanical name chosen for all citrus species was Hesperidoeidē (Ἑσπεριδοειδῆ, "hesperidoids") from the belief that aurea poma(golden apples) in the Garden of Hesperides were oranges. http://archive.org/s...ge/n33/mode/2up Appel Sina of Lisbonse Oranje Appel (Chinese Apple of Lisbon. Orange Apple) The Belgick, or Netherlandish hesperides ?that is, the management, ordering, and use of the limon and orange trees, fitted to the nature and climate of the Netherlands /by S. Commelyn 1676; made English by G.V.N. (1683). If so, the jeton's obverse & reverse, would show orange cultivation from seed propogation right through to the fruit in a basket.

I thought I should explain my reasons for my comment quoted above. The obverse of the jeton shows the crucial element in the cultivation of the orange in northern climes, that is the ability to protect it from the cold by moving it to a heated enviroment by the use of 'boxing' the tree. The reverse spells out the 'cultivation' that is shown on the obverse, the fruit piled high in a basket for display below the inscription is surely the fruit from the cultivated orange trees shown on the obverse, the oranges cultivated at Versailles were arranged for display in the palace. Why would you produce a jeton clearly showing the cultivation of oranges on the obverse, use cultivation in the inscription on the reverse and then place a basket of apples below it? Does not seem to make much sense! As for the cider, it is named Poma Áurea for the special golden color of the cider, not because it is made from a variety of apples, in fact it is made from several varieties of local apples from the area around the town of Gijon, Asturias, Spain, where the cider originates. Why would a French jeton be inscribed with the name of an obscure cider from Spain? I can find no reference to an apple variety called Aurea Poma. In Medieval Latin Aurea Poma meant orange, much, if not most, of europe used 'golden apple' for orange. The French for Potato is pomme d' terre(apple of the earth), Tomato, pomme d'amour(love apple), Pomegranate, pomme-grenade(apple-seeded). From Medallic Illustrations, 1689 Coronation medal, Aurea Poma Mixta Rosis. (Oranges mingled with roses.) Ex. D . F . A . Wllh . Henr . Et Maria M . Brit . R. (Defenders of the Faith of England, William Henry and Mary, Sovereigns of Great Britain.), Oranges & roses were William III(of the House of Orange) emblems. Perhaps CGB and Mitchiner imbibed too much of a Spanish cider called.... I don't think that F would have just plucked The Horticultural Society of Rouen from a hat, he must have some evidence or reason for ascribing these jetons to it. Perhaps it was an error but it would be nice to have some concrete reason or evidence for that.

Don't we just love a mystery! I am with Feuardent in that I think oranges are depicted on both the obverse & reverse, as to his Rouen connection I have no idea. I love the orangeries with the boxed trees.

What a lucky guy you are, not only such a rare beauty but that ostrich has copy/reducing lines around it. I drool I would do the same as you and leave the collection # on it, it is part of the tokens history & adds character & charm to the piece. Not that it needed anymore!!!

These 'Charlottes' seldom show much if any handling wear, because, shortly after they were struck for use the school was relocated & renamed & another style of reward token was minted, So for being almost 200 year old, nicely designed, still in good condition, reasonable priced & only 3 in the set they are nice tokens to collect.

None of mine show discoloration either & handling wear is minimal to say the least, that is they all appear as almost just struck, the brass they used has stood the test of time. Then the slight lack detail in the curls is just from worn dies. So I have no doubt it is genuine.

Looking at the picture I can see the lack of detail in her curls etc(compared to my example) but cannot tell if that is from post mint handling wear, worn dies or from being a copy. I have no reason from the picture to think it is a fake, perhaps a realy sharp, larger, higher resolution pic would be a help. You are much better placed, having it in your possesion, to judge if it is genuine or not. Mine is not readily available or I would weigh it for you to compare to yours. Sorry I am not being much help, could I ask what makes you think it is a modern copy?

The A in the circle indicates gold and the 900 is for 'parts per thousand' equivalent to 21.60 carats. It appears to me to be genuine, a jeweler could tell you if it is gold. The weight seems about right to me. Compare with this one https://www.noble.com.au/auctions/lot/?id=252836

She is the 'Queen of Time' riding in her 'Ship of Commerce' an art deco clock above Selfridges main entrance Oxford st by Gilbert Bayes . Her supporters are mermaids holding phases of the moon controlling the tides, and of course the Queen of Time and Tides waits for no man. The clock behind supports an Elizabethan ship, recalling the early days of the exploration that would lead to the industrial revolution, trade and commerce, globalisation and the rise of shopping as the principal hobby of most of the western world Harry Selfridge, the American founder, wanted retailing to be seen as a more noble pursuit than simply buying and selling for profit, and even wrote a book called 'The Romance of Commerce'.

http://www.geolocati...385701.jpg/-/en Probably Rowley Way, Alexandra Road Estate, London. Sorry Clive missed your post!!!

French jeton. Écus de France et de Navarre entourés du double collier, that is, shields of France & Navarre within the double collar of st. Michael. This type http://www.cgb.fr/lo...t_128608,a.html https://www.google.c...iw=1366&bih=643 Happy hunting. EDIT this is it http://monnaies.delc...language,F.html HENRICVS. IIII. Francorum. AND. NAVAR. REX. the centre top image. HIS TE TVA GALLIA DONAT 1608. by Nicolas Briot. #5

http://www.numishop.com/boutique1.php?boutique=mo_jet&z1=1852&z2=SECOND+EMPIRE&z3=&z4=&z5=&z6=&z7=&z8=&zd=&tri=prix These are the only jetons that they have for the second empire 1852, just 4 of them, yours is not among them.

So true, this from the same museum will be more to your liking, it is gold.

Pictures from my visit to The Musuem of Fine Art Boston in December. The jewelled and classically draped bust of George IV was modeled after an 1822 marble bust by Francis Chantrey who also designed independently for Rundell, Bridge & Rundell who produced this piece. The Gothic pedestal may be tentatively associated with either A. C. Pugin (1762-1832) or his son A. W. N. Pugin (1812-1852), who were supplying Gothic furnishings for Windsor Castle from 1826; the younger Pugin also worked for Rundell's. Gilt bronze mounted with enamel, gold, diamonds, emeralds & rubies. The gold medal(set in the rear, picture 4) by Benedetto Pistrucci is dated 19 July 1821, and commemorates the coronation of George IV and is 35mm which gives some idea of the size of this piece!!!. Inscribed: "TO SIR HENRY HALFORD BART/ THIS BUST OF HIS LATE MAJESTY KING GEORGE IV/ IS PRESENTED/ BY THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES THE DUKES OF CUMBERLAND AND CAMBRIDGE/ THE PRINCESSES AUGUSTA THE LANDGRAVINE OF HESSE HOMBURG/ THE DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER AND THE PRINCESS SOPHIA/ AS A TOKEN OF THEIR ESTEEM AND REGARD/ AND IN TESTIMONY OF THE HIGH SENSE THEY ENTERTAIN OF HIS PROFESSIONAL ABILITY/ AND UNWEARIED ATTENTION DURING THE ILLNESS OF THEIR LATE BELOVED SISTER/ THE PRINCESS AMELIA OF HER LATE MAJESTY QUEEN CHARLOTTE, AND HIS LATE/ MAJESTY KING GEORGE III HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE LATE DUKE OF YORK/ AND LASTLY OF HIS LATE MAJESTY KING GEORGE IV/ MDCCCXXX" and with royal monograms, engraved on the plinth.

When the future Napoleon III returned from England and was elected President of the Republic, the monarchists, who controlled the government, saw him as a temporary measure & were forcing him from office at the end of his term in 1852 & voted to restrict suffrage so as to retain their power in hopes of restoring a Monarchy. After Louis-Napoleon seized power in a coup in 1851 he re-instituted universal suffrage. On 7 November 1852 an act was passed for a referendum which, when held(Nov. 21-22), ended the 2nd Republic & ushered in the 2nd Empire with President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte being crowned Emperor Napoleon III on 2nd December 1852. This medal commemorates the fact that universal suffrage led to "The Empire it is Peace" & Napoleon III becoming Emperor on the 2nd December 1852. Compare to this from Forvm Ancient Coins. http://ds737.yeg.ale...8&iop=30&sold=1

The more things change, the more they stay the same or deja vu all over again! Is it aluminum Bill?

Thanks for the challenge Hiho, great fun

Any given medal can be struck in a number of metals, consider a particular medal struck in gold, silver & bronze, if there was only 5 gold examples struck that would be rated as RRRR.(the highest rarity) 20 struck in silver RRR.(extremely rare) but 100 struck in bronze N.(normal rarity). Each metal that a medal is struck in will have its own rarity rating. I hope that is clear, if not let me know.

It is BHM#2077 in AR(silver) RR(for very rare) in AE(bronze) N.(for normal number struck) the medal is dated, in Latin, January 17 1842. The Prince posed several times for the engraver Stothard. The obverse legend was inspired by the inscription on a medallet found on the site of the old Exchange bearing the title ANGLIAE REGINA UBIQUE HONORATA, presumed to have been struck to record Queen Elizabeth Ist's patronage of the original building. It is a medal, which would normaly be posted in Exonumia(the reason I took so long to respond as I don't check this section very often) they were issued for sale to the general public. BHM stands for British Historical Medals by Brown, his rarity scale is RRRR. RRR. RR. R. N. C. CC. he does not give exact numbers, these are seldom known anyway. A previous post, http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?/topic/23998-laying-of-the-first-stone-of-the-new-royal-exchange/

That is a beauty as is the new Avatar.