French medal

I know this site is called coin talk, but i assume exonumia like medals are fair game. So i picked this french 1889 medal up at a flea market in a dealer's box for only five dollars.

 

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Nice find.. How do you know it's from 1889?

 

on the back it says centennial 1789, so it must a hundred year anniversary. From the few listings online, they confirmed this too

 

@joecoincollect
@paddyman98

Eugene Andre Oudine was born in Paris on January 1, 1810 and died there on April 12, 1889. There is no record of this medal listed in the Biographical Dictionary of Medallists by Forrer, but Oudine is credited in that compendium with the obverse design which was used for the French Five Francs in 1851. It was quite common for the Monnaies de Paris to use various dies that they owned for other medals. It is my guess that the Paris Mint chose to honor Oudine in 1889 by using his design for the 5 Franc coin as the obverse for this centennial medal.

Chris

 

@joecoincollect

By the way, what is the size of this medal? Is it smaller than 38mm? If so, it would be considered a jeton rather than a medal.

Chris

 

it's big, much bigger than a silver dollar. what is a jeton?

 

If your medal is that large, have you checked the edge for a mintmark and composition? It is either bronze or copper (cuivre).

A jeton is a type of medal that is smaller than 38mm. They date back to about the 12th century when merchants in the Mediterranean region used them as a method of tabulating the price for goods much like the abacus was used in the orient. The use of them was then expanded to provide a method of counting for table games, and their popularity and use spread through much of Europe. Most jetons were produced by private mints, and their designs can vary widely.

Here is one of mine that is 28mm.





Chris

 

I haven't checked edge yet, but will. So, jetons from 1700 on up were used mainly for games? In what way? And why would their designs vary and be so decorative if just for games? It seems like maybe also people would collect them as commemoratives

 

No, jetons were still used for commerce throughout Europe. It's just that they were also handy to use for table games. (I don't know if that included gambling.) Many jetons were produced by private mints for individual townships.

If you have access to a copy of the book, Jetons, Medalets & Tokens: The Low Countries and France, Volume Two by Michael Mitchiner, it is loaded with about 800 pages of information and images covering them.

Chris