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A few weeks ago I shared with a few of you my intention to find and finally purchase an 1860 China Expedition Medal while in Paris. I wanted to find an MOMP "Barre" for a very simple reason, although expensive they’re MUCH cheaper than the others.
My lovely wife was incredibly patient as we walked km after km after km going from dealer to dealer and always receiving the same answer: "je l’ai vendu" (I sold it). EVERYBODY used to have one for sale but nobody had one in shop… I was really really disappointed as I once again contemplated a return flight with a wallet full of business cards but still no medal. So we went to our favorite little café on the rue de Rivoli and I drowned my sorrow in a few tasty hot fudge cakes…
While giving the hot fudge a chance to go down, I struck up a conversation with a delightful elderly gentleman who spent the 60s in Canada as a diplomat, the conversation turned to my hobby, his face lit up and he gave me the address of an obscure little shop in a part of Paris I didn’t even know existed (I’m not sure I could ever find the shop again).
I found a China medal!
It cost more, but I couldn’t bare the thought of returning empty handed once again, and since my wife overdid it a bit in the shops, she said "go for it" (bless her little heart!). It isn’t a MOMP "Barre", it’s a "SACRISTAIN", and I paid the going market price for it.
Hi François,
Sorry to react quite lately to your new acquisition…
Being really busy these last months, I had no time enough even to say : Waouuuuhhhhhh !!!
All my congratulations to you for this awesome acquisition (sorry I have edited your title to make future searchs easier…) !!It is not an easy one to find. I myself only found a nice one at the beginning of tis year, thanks to a fellow in a French forum.
Bravo !!!
Cheers.
Ch.
Yes, François, I feel sorry for you.
In fact, a good lesson for me : I did not even notice the wrong suspension, even if I knew the more recent strikes (I have been fooled myself by a Dahomey restrike a few years ago… but paid a very small price for it
).Cheers.
Ch.
Sorry for you, Frank…
700 € was a quite high price for this medal, even original or period time…
Cheers.
Ch.
Sorry for you, Frank…
700 € was a quite high price for this medal, even original or period time…
Cheers.
Ch.
A MOMP Barre goes for approx 350+ €
I’ve rarely seen a Sacristain for less than 650 €, I only had a day left in Paris and had returned empty handed many times before… I was a fool… You know the old saying.
Late development… Some were made with a ball suspension…
This is a very high resolution scan of the maker’s mark I had previously missed…
Anybody familiar with a crab mark??
[attachment=0]Chine 1860 Sacristain POINCON.jpg[/attachment]
Chine 1860 Sacristain POINCON.jpgWell… I found the crab mark, it isn’t a maker’s mark, it was used just like the boar’s head to certify the .800 silver. The boar’s head mark was used between 1838 and 1968, the crab was used betwen 1838 and 1973. So… Opinions?
[attachment=0]poincons francais.jpg[/attachment]
poincons francais.jpgTurns out the light at the end of the tunnel was merely another train coming…
The crab mark is as old as the boar’s head, but NOT used on Sacristain medals… Only the boar’s head was used on his works… Oh well…
Expensive lesson…
Hello Frank (I just noticed your recent replies),
The boar’s head was used by Parisian’s makers between 1838 and 1962. The crab by the rest of France but most medals makers (maybe all) were based in Paris so the boar’s head is more common for this period. The crab was used between 1962 and 1984 in the whole country and since 1984 that’s a Minerva’s head.
So I would say that your medal was made between 1962 and 1984, certainly using the original dies.
Hallmark is good way to give an idea of the period the medal was made, but that’s not enough as the boar’s head was used during more than a century.
Sorry for you Franck.
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