© Jorandm (CC0)
© Jorandm (CC0)
Jeton - Cumontespan
1896 year| Copper | 5 g | 27.5 mm |
| Location | Belgium |
|---|---|
| King | Leopold II (1865-1909) |
| Type | Advertising medallions › Satirical medals |
| Year | 1896 |
| Composition | Copper |
| Weight | 5 g |
| Diameter | 27.5 mm |
| Thickness | 1.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Updated | 2024-11-12 |
| Numista | N#314562 |
|---|---|
| Rarity index | 97% |
Reverse
Script: Latin
Lettering:
1618
JETON
CUMONTESPAN
R.B.D.N
1896
Edge
Plain
Comment
Satirical token created in 1896, from the contraction of CUMONT and MONTESPAN. An article by G. Cumont (Pièces rares ou inédites, RBN, 1896, p. 188-202 and pl. V) corrected Dugniolle's attribution of a token on which he had read 1618 instead of 1678. Cumont discovered that it was a satirical coinage against Louis XIV, probably of Dutch origin, on the occasion of the birth, on June 6, 1678, of an adulterous son of the Marquise de Montespan. The RBN has never published this token. It appears in Catalogue 1966 under n°119: (l1896. Token Cu-montespan, with Camille Picqué". We don't know how the author of this part of the catalog came to link this satirical token with Camille Picqué, a full member who was attached to the C.M. of the Bibliothèque Royale before becoming its curator in 1899. The token led to Cumont's resignation as Secretary of the SRNB and Director of the RBN.It would appear that this token was issued to mock Monsieur Georges CUMONT.
