Ian Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Revolutionary France saw the emergence of new societies promoting the rights of `artistes - inventeurs'. One of these new societies was the Societe des Inventions et Decouvertes (Society of Inventions and Discoveries) which succeeded in ensuring that France passed legislation similar to the patent system in operation in the UK. The legislation (adopted in 1791) ensured the intellectual property rights of inventors in France as an `inalienable right'. The jeton below was struck in both copper and silver for members and officials of the Society and fundamentally commemorates the passing of the legislation. The silver jetons are becoming harder to find......but maybe i'm just saying that because i don't have one yet This one is the best (and worst ) of both worlds in that it has been `silvered' but the silver wash has all bit worn off. The jeton itself is still in a nice collectable condition and reflects revolutionary France (obverse) with the allegorical `France' by Dupre, the engraver of French coinage at that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Nice jeton Ian but the pics have quite a slant on them, had you been at the aqua vitae! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Very nice indeed. It's the first silvered one I've seen and I've yet to collect an original. Mine (below) was restruck about 1841 from the original dies but of course I'm still on the hunt for an original strike: 1791 Société des inventions et découvertes, France. 27mm - Details Hennin 205 Milan 33 Now that I look again it may be that the reverse on mine was from new dies. Hm... Nope a quick look at the Hennin plates shows that yours is Hennin 204. Tres cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted October 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Nice jeton Ian but the pics have quite a slant on them, had you been at the aqua vitae! Officer Doby...I cannot tell a lie............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted October 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Very nice indeed. It's the first silvered one I've seen and I've yet to collect an original. Mine (below) was restruck about 1841 from the original dies but of course I'm still on the hunt for an original strike: 1791 Société des inventions et découvertes, France. 27mm - Details Hennin 205 Milan 33 Now that I look again it may be that the reverse on mine was from new dies. Hm... Nope a quick look at the Hennin plates shows that yours is Hennin 204. Tres cool. I don't have a copy of Hennin. Would appreciate an inkling as to what it leads you to conclude as to the differing legends ? Feuardent has the reverse legends for the originals reading as per my example (eg feuardent 4486) and cites there being a restrike in copper (feuardent 4487). Gadoury's `jetons 1991' cites and images a silver example (ie feuardent 4485) with the same legends as my example. I had presumed the restrike to be the abbreviated legends but not so sure about that either as Mitchiner quotes and images the abbreviated reverse legends. To be honest, I favour the information found in Feuardent and Gadoury over Mitchiner but even so, the probability of the existence of bona fide die variants is high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Ah, in this case the reverse not only has a different legend as you point out but H. 204 is pictured (drawn actually) without the wreath that figures in the reverse of H. 205. Hennin of course pre-dates all of the other gentlemen (late 1820s) and shows both of these pieces in the plates. In my example the restrike is indicated because of the edge mark (an anchor interlaced with a C) at about the 6 0'clock position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted October 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 Ah, in this case the reverse not only has a different legend as you point out but H. 204 is pictured (drawn actually) without the wreath that figures in the reverse of H. 205. Hennin of course pre-dates all of the other gentlemen (late 1820s) and shows both of these pieces in the plates. In my example the restrike is indicated because of the edge mark (an anchor interlaced with a C) at about the 6 0'clock position. That particular edge mark was only used for a very short period between 21st October 1841 and 24th September 1842. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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