Token - Franc Maçonnerie (Orient de Rouen) ND (1845-1860) front Token - Franc Maçonnerie (Orient de Rouen) ND (1845-1860) back
Token - Franc Maçonnerie (Orient de Rouen) ND (1845-1860) photo
© JM

Token - Franc Maçonnerie Orient de Rouen ND

 
Copper 11.26 g 27 mm
Description
Location
France
Type
Medals › Membership medals
Years
1845-1860
Currency
France - Masonic Tokens
Composition
Copper
Weight
11.26 g
Diameter
27 mm
Thickness
2.5 mm
Shape
Round
Orientation
Medal alignment ↑↑
Updated
2024-11-12
References
Numista
N#149464
Rarity index
97%

Reverse

A temple between 2 columns; above, the radiant sun (with the Masonic triangle); in front, Masonic attributes.

Script: Latin

Lettering: POST TENEBRAS LUX

Edge

Plain

Comment

FREEMASONRY

The compass and the square are often associated in an ambivalent symbol of balance: fixity and mobility, passive and active, matter and spirit. The compass is the tool of the Creator and the great Architect of the Universe. The spacing of the compass branches obeys precise rules and varies according to the three degrees: apprentice, journeyman and master.
After the terrible years of the revolutionary period, the Napoleonic era saw a flowering of lodge activity, as well as that of many other groups. Masonic activity, stripped of its republican theories and firmly controlled by a Grand Master appointed by the Emperor, experienced a vigorous unity never seen since. It is thought that every regiment, every garrison and every town had its own Lodge. The evidence provided by the sumptuous tokens of the period shows that these lodges were rich and influential. The symbolism is sophisticated, without comparison with later periods, which were much more conventional, or even bland or stodgy, at the beginning of the 20th century. Freemasonry counted over a thousand lodges spread across the country's one hundred and thirty departments, and more than sixty thousand brethren.