Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1529. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $3000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

FRANCE, Second Empire. Napoleon III. 1852-1870. AV Medal (42mm, 34.90 gm, 12h). Korn, engraver. NAPOLEON III KAISER DER FRANZOSEN, bare-headed goateed head left; F.KORN below / GOTT SCHUTZE KAISER UND REICH within oak wreath; IN MAINZ below. Mazard 1748 (Frankfurt). UNC, matte surfaces, tiny bump in obverse field. ($3000)

The reverse legend clearly dates this issue prior to the Franco-Prussian War, since that conflict resulted in the downfall of Napoleon III. The Kaiser mentioned here is not the German emperor, but Napoleon himself. The IN MAINZ suggests the medallion to be of local manufacture. Inspired by his uncle's achievements, Napoleon III moved to reconstitute the French Empire in Europe. In the summer of 1866, the emperor began to press Prussan chancellor Bismark for the return of German territories which had been under French control prior to 1814 and which would help secure the western bank of the Rhine for France. Among these areas was the city of Mainz, which, since 1815, had become an important city for the German Confederation and gave the Germans a footing across the Rhine. Bismarck, however, rejected the demand, citing it as an offense to German nationalism. It is possible that this large gold medallion was struck at the time of the negotiations to present to pro-French German elites.