A French Rebus Medal, 1848.

 

“Rebus” coins and medals are those whereby words are replaced by same-sounding pictographs, individual letters and so forth. For instance the sentence “I see” would be rendered by a picture of an eye accompanied by a C. Some are very ingenious, one example being an English halfpenny token issued during the French Revolution in the late 1790s. That pictured above is equally ingenious and the pity is that a good working knowledge of French is needed to really appreciate it.

Although the above medal appeared several times before in French publications, the best English coverage is an article by Jack Veffer in the C.N.J. (Nov., 1979). It was issued in 1848 during the brief revolution in that year in France by the adherents of Henri Le Bearnais, the Pretender to the throne who called himself Henri V. It was a large medal, 41mm in diameter, and is known in lead, bronze, silver-plated copper, copper and pewter with lead being the most common.

The obverse translates as follows: (behind the head) ALL ARMS ARE OPENED and (in front of the head) ALL HEARTS BELONG TO YOU.

 

The reverse is much more lengthy but is a quatrain that in English does not run smoothly at all. Nevertheless it translates:

THE WHITE REPUBLIC BEARS MISERY,

THE RED REPUBLIC BRINGS TERROR:

HENRI LE BEARNAIS OF THE FRENCH MADE HAPPINESS,

AND BEQUEATHS US THROUGH HIS SON, THE PATTERN OF THE

FATHER. (at the bottom, 1848)

When the dust settled, it was Louis Napoleon, nephew of Bonaparte, who was elected leader of France and later went on to make himself emperor, losing it all during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.

Wayne Jacobs is a numismatic expert. Currently secretary and editor of the "Mid-Island Coin Club Numismatic Journal"of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island , British Columbia, he is the award winning author of numerous articles. The MICC journal are hosted here: MICC webpages Copyright 2006 Wayne Jacobs. This article may be reprinted freely for non commercial purpose only if the resource box is left intact, linking back to us.