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Auction: 7030 - Ancient, English & Foreign Coins & Comm Medals
Lot: 182

France, John Law (1671-1729), bronze Satirical Medal by Joseph Charles Roettiers, 44.5mm., ridere regnare est, Folley enthroned amid clouds, holding sceptre with Jester´s head, J.C Roettiers fecit below, rev.luna duce auspice momo, a spuriou coat of arms, a shield emblazoned with the moon in three phases (waxing, waining, and full) above a jester´s head on a field of bees, a jester´s cap with cat and weather-vane above, supported by monkeys in livery holding smoking cornucopias (Betts 66-70, n.3), good very fine, very rare Estimate £ 300-400 Struck around 1720 at the Paris mint, this medal satirises the Mississippi System promoted by John Law and other such money making ventures which at this time were very popular, and almost always disastrous. See B. Betts, ´Descriptive List of Medals Relating to John Law and the Mississippi System´, Boston 1907.

Sold for
£320