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Pope Alexander VIII Medal by Chéron

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Struck medal by Charles-Jean-François Chéron, 1690, 31.5 mm Ø

Obverse: Bust of Alexander VIII facing right wearing tiara and cope with image of Saint Bruno. Around, ALEXA / N · VIII · PON : MA ; under the bust, · F · C · .

Reverse: A censer with a two-headed eagle from which clouds of incense pour out; an incense boat to the right. Around, SVAVITATE bordered by embellishments; small initials f . c to the left.

According to Miselli, this medal commemorates the sweetness of the Pope's customs. The two-headed eagle on the censer is taken from the Pope's Ottoboni family coat of arms.

There is another version of this medal which was engraved by Giovanni Hamerani (and of course featuring his signature instead of Chéron's). This version by Chéron appears to be rarer than the Hamerani version. In the various important collections surveyed by Miselli, he counts 26 of the Hamerani medals but only 7 of the Chéron medal.

Comments

  • STLNATSSTLNATS Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭
    Nice catch Joe. Esp like the way the date is handled on the reverse. Also the split of ALEXA - N on the obverse is a bit odd (and fun). This appears to be the brass issue (ottone). Also, the band immediately below the eagle on the censor is also from the pope's family arms. Its fun to see how they worked so many armorial elements into the design of the coins and medals of this period.

    Was this actually an issue commissioned by the Holy See or a contemporary copy of Hamerani? I'm not always clear on Miselli and don't see a distincition between the issues (altho the H. issue is noted in the usual medals while this is only noted in brass and bronze).

    Congrats on a nice add to your collection.

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    Always interested in St Louis MO & IL metro area and Evansville IN national bank notes and Vatican/papal states coins and medals!
  • IosephusIosephus Posts: 872 ✭✭✭
    Yes, this appears to be the brass version.

    I myself was wondering about the existence of the same medal by both Hamerani and Chéron. Chéron worked in Rome between 1654 and 1675, where he interacted with both the Travani and Hamerani families at the papal mint. It is interesting that he would create a papal medal in 1690 while working back in France primarily on medals for Louis XIV. As you noted, Miselli does not get into the gritty details on many issues (if only Modesti had continued his wonderful work through the 17th century), so there is nothing to indicate that this was commissioned by the Holy See. Of course, I see no reason why Chéron would need (or want) to copy a medal by Hamerani!

    Since the Hamerani dies were used to make restrikes as late as Mazio's time, the possibility did cross my mind that perhaps Hamerani actually copied Chéron's medal. Alas, I feel that no answers will appear anytime soon.
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