Hi. I recently was given a French bronze medallion from an uncle and have no idea what it is or what it's worth. Maybe someone can help me. The medallion has a radius of approx. 2 - 7/8 inches and weighs approx. 7 ounces. The front of he medallion is engraved with a bust of what I believe to be one of the King Louis'. It says "LVDOVICVS * MAGNVS * REX * GALLIARVM * INVICTISSIMVS" Below the bust it has "MOLART * F *" On the back is written "COLVIT * MAGIS * OMNIBVS * VNAM" and shows Versaille. On the bottom, below the picture is " VERSALIAE" and below that the date 1627. Is this worth anything? And what does it commemorate? I'd appreciate any help anyone can give. Thanks, TorLiv
I believe 1627 was the year Jacques Lemercier (c.1585 - 1654), a French Renaissance architect, began to build Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.
Firstly, The Palace of Versailles was not built until the mid - late 1600's so a medal showing the building AND dated 1627 means that the medal simply wasn't struck in 1627. Another significant contributing factor to the belief that the medal was struck post 1627 is that `Ludovicus Magnus' is Louis XIIII (1643 -1715). There was a medal struck by F Molart (a medallist / engraver) probably commissioned by Louis on the completion of the palace or shortly afterwards (late 1680's or 1690's). However, I can also guarantee that there are `modern' re-strikes / replicas of the same medal (by modern I mean 1880's to present time). What's it worth? Difficult to say without a) knowing if it is an original or a re-strike and b) it's general condition. I'm no expert on medals in any event and would be pushing my knowledge to the max by saying any more than I have. However, get hold of a magnifying glass and have a look at the edge of the medal. If there are any marks / words impressed into the edge then it is most definitely a replica. That does not mean that it has no value. Some re-strikes of such medals have very low mintages. Why don't you post an image for us to look at? Ian
Just a little off topic: Louis XIV = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV One of the best sites on french medals I've found so far: http://members.aol.com/jetonsdusacre/index.htm
French Bronze Medallion I have a medalion which is identical in size and description, but the date on the obverse, under "Versaliae" is 1687, not 1627 as described. As suggested by "Ian", I looked at the edge of mine with a magnifying glass: it has the number "973" (or possibly "1973") and the word "BRONZE". Like TorLiv, I would be very interested to hear from anyone. I live in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Thank you, Ian for your helpful comments. dfn555
That your medallion has these edge marks suggests that it is a re-strike. The 973 however is more likely to be the serial number of the piece as part of a limited edition (out of what number I can't in all honesty say, but most re-strikes are limted to the 500 mark). Usually (but not always) there is a small mark like an assay mark incused on the edge. It would be easy to pass over it thinking it was a blemish. Dependent upon what the mark is (if present at all) you can normally determine the time frame within which it was struck. For example from 1880 the edge mark would have been a small shape called the `corne d'abondance' aka `horn of plenty'. It looks to all intents and purposes like a conch shell. You'll need your magnifier though. It might also be either a hand with a pointing finger, or a bumble bee.....or something 20th century like a losenge shape....(?) Sometimes this mark is placed in relief below the bust (obverse), confirming it as a re-strike. I haven't a clue what the demand for such pieces is like, but I wouldn't mind seeing a scan if you can oblige? Ian
