Mystery Brass Medallion From France

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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 1,724
emptyvoid New Member United States 2 Posts	Posted 12/23/2012 10:36 am I received this medallion from my great uncle's estate. As you can see in one of the photos it has a modern-looking "M" logo and "France" engraved on the side, so I doubt it is that old but I am still curious to know what it is. It measures about 2" in diameter, is roughly 3/8" thick (uneven), and weighs 6.4 oz. Any ideas? Thanks. Report this Post to the Staff

philadelphian Pillar of the Community United States 3253 Posts	Posted 12/23/2012 12:02 pm Here's a description of something very similar (evidently the original may have been a bronze weight with a lead core) in the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/resear..._search.aspx¤tPage=6&numpages=10 References to weights like these seem to place them in Catalonia and the French Pyrenees in the 13th century. I suppose those with the fleur-de-lys on the reverse were struck in the Kingdom of France, and those with the castle, in Castile. Edited by philadelphian 12/23/2012 12:27 pm Report this Post to the Staff
philadelphian Pillar of the Community United States 3253 Posts	Posted 12/23/2012 1:21 pm And I've pinned down the origin of the coinweight this is a copy of. The obverse legend reads +MEIA LIVRA ("half pound") DE ORLHAC. In the regional dialect called Occitan, shared with areas of Catalonia, Monaco, and Northern Italy, "Orlhac" is the name of the French town of Aurillac, in the Auvergne. I would start by looking in that region for a company making these reproductions. Did your great uncle have connections in southern France? Edited by philadelphian 12/23/2012 1:39 pm Report this Post to the Staff
philadelphian Pillar of the Community United States 3253 Posts	Posted 12/23/2012 1:23 pm Oh, and to the forum! Report this Post to the Staff
emptyvoid New Member United States 2 Posts	Posted 12/24/2012 4:37 pm Quote: The obverse legend reads +MEIA LIVRA ("half pound") DE ORLHAC. In the regional dialect called Occitan, shared with areas of Catalonia, Monaco, and Northern Italy, "Orlhac" is the name of the French town of Aurillac, in the Auvergne. I would start by looking in that region for a company making these reproductions. Did your great uncle have connections in southern France? Cool, thanks for the info. He traveled all over the world so he must have picked this up in southern France as you say, but I wouldn't know exactly where. I searched around for more details on this coin but didn't find anything more, I guess it's a long-discontinued local souvenir. Thanks for your help. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 4 / Views: 1,724

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