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2535 - USA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Estimate €10,000
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Description
USA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Federal Republic of the United States of America (1776–present). Token, Benjamin Franklin, Venerable Master of the Lodge of the Nine Sisters, by François Bernier, 1783, Paris. Obverse: BENJ FRANKLIN MINISTER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. SEPT. Bust in full dress facing left, with the signature BERNIER below and in the exergue: MDCCLXXXIII. Rev. FROM THEIR LABOURS – THEIR GLORY SHALL BE BORN. The nine Muses carving a round temple out of the rock, signed F:· B. and in the exergue: [L.] OF THE NINE SISTERS and a banner. Labouret 294 – HZC.469 (photo 470) – Betts 618 – Marvin LVIII; Silver – 8.3 g – 30.6 mm – 6 h Top Pop: this is the only graded specimen! From the CGF Monnaies XI auction, 10 May 2002, lot 1366 (€17,760), subsequently in the Richard Margolis collection. PCGS AU50 (48895653). With ‘L. de L(oge)’ on the reverse in intaglio, as if added after striking. An exceptional token, one of the rarest in the French series but also of interest to the history of the United States of America. Shows even wear, with a lovely old grey patina. Very rare. Almost Superb. Undoubtedly the most famous and sought-after of all French tokens and those relating to American history. Its rarity is remarkable and only a few silver examples are known: in the United States, in the Adams or Ford collections (each holding two examples), or in France at the BnF and at the Cannes auction on 8 December 2007, appraised by A. Weil, lot no. 121. Five examples are listed by Michael Hodder – though he has no doubt omitted some – bringing the total to fewer than ten, however. In copper, only a few (three?) examples are thought to exist: in France, there is one copper example held at the Musée de Chartres. It is missing from Feuardent’s collection, which contained only the Milly token (no. 7 45, ‘Rare’, illustrated on plate III). The only reference to this token is the *Hamburgische Zirkel-Correspondenz*, *Medaillenwerk*, Band IV, Hamburg, 1902, where it is described under number 469. This token is so rare that when Louis Amiable published his large volume on the Loge des Neuf Sœurs in 1897, he remarked (note 1, page 140): “Gould, in *The History of Freemasonry*, London and New York, 1887, six volumes, states that the Lodge had a medal struck in honour of the great American, an assertion which the author of this monograph has been unable to verify.” Not only had Amiable, the specialist on the Lodge of the Nine Sisters, never seen this token, but he was not even aware – not even by hearsay – of its existence. The author of the 230-page critical commentary accompanying the Paris reissue, 1989, Charles Porset, says nothing of it either. Worshipful Master of the Loge des Neuf Sœurs from June 1779 to 1781, Benjamin FRANKLIN enjoyed a brilliant spell in Paris between 1778 and 1785. Enormously popular, he moved in Parisian high society, and his tireless efforts made him one of the principal architects of American independence. In 1783, he triumphed: the armistice was signed on 4 February and the Treaty of Independence was signed at Versailles in April. Our token, dated 1783, specifically commemorates Benjamin Franklin’s roles and the exact name of the United States at the time, ‘the United States of North America’: rendered in the Frenchised form as ‘SEPTentrionale’. It was minted in his honour following the signing of the armistice on 4 February 1783, which was subsequently confirmed by the Treaty of Versailles. Thus, monarchical Europe, including England, which signed the peace on 3 September 1783, recognised the United States of America as a nation in its own right. The event was unprecedented and prophetic: monarchies were recognising the existence of a country without a king, a democracy where the people governed themselves according to the principles of the Enlightenment. This revolution ahead of its time was brilliantly celebrated in Paris, where a splendid festival, organised by the Freemasons of the lodge, was held to mark the peace, the birth of the United States of America and to honour Benjamin FRANKLIN. American independence was extolled in verse and prose during enthusiastic speeches. The bust of the hero, sculpted by Houdon, was then unveiled, followed by a concert and a dinner. The bust of Benjamin FRANKLIN is modelled on the terracotta piece created in 1778 by Jean Antoine Houdon (1741–1828), a pupil of Pigalle and a member of the Academy from 1777, as well as of the Neuf Sœurs Lodge. The token was distributed to the brothers of the Lodge during the celebration on 12 May 1783 by the Marquis de La Salle. The original design of the attendance token may have been created by Houdon, as the portraits on the token and the bust are exactly identical. As early as 1786, Franklin’s letters to his sister Jane mention the “very pretty Nine Sisters medal”. At the time, it was impossible to realise the immense significance of this event: the independence of the United States of America. A new era was beginning, and this token was present when the architect of this new birth was celebrated by his brothers and friends. Indeed, we find Bernier, who was the treasurer and engraved the token, and Houdon, who sculpted the bust (now held at the Louvre Museum) and probably designed the model. François Bernier, whose initials—separated by a Masonic triangle—are visible on the reverse, along with his full signature beneath the bust, was an engraver at the Chancellery and the Paris Mint. On the reverse of the token are depicted the nine Muses, the Nine Sisters, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (goddess of Memory), as on the token of the Count of Milly, which, incidentally, shares its reverse corner with that of FRANKLIN. The Muses dwelt in the Helicon Mountains, in Boeotia, near Mount Olympus. They represent Eloquence, Tragedy, Comedy, Love Poetry, History, Music, Dance, Lyric Poetry and Astronomy. Here they are depicted at work in the mountains, carving a temple reminiscent of the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, from which the engraver was probably inspired. They represent the Masonic ideal of operative and spiritual perfection, achieved through inquiry, setting an example and working together. Originally, the Lodge was to be named ‘The Nine Muses’, but the Grand Orient’s leadership—which at that time strictly adhered to Anderson’s Constitutions and was the guardian of Freemasonry’s Christian character—deemed this name incompatible with the generic title ‘Lodges of St John’ ’. The spirit of the Gospel according to John seemed irreconcilable with a name of pagan origin, and the Lodge ultimately had to adopt the distinctive name by which it has gone down in history. In this exceedingly rare token, we find, all at once, a major historical event in the history of our planet, an object steeped in 18th-century art, and the precursors to the French Revolution: it is understandable that this token has become the stuff of legend [Commentary by Michel Prieur (†) and Stéphan Sombart, 2002 (full entry: https://blog.cgb.fr/pdf/v11_1366.pdf), amended in 2024 following recent research by Marc Labouret (https://marc-labouret.fr/numismatique-recherches-et-trouvailles/jetons-des-neuf-soeurs.html)] * Pursuant to Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 of 5 April 2022, which comes into force in national law on 1 January 2025, buyers from within the EU must pay 5.5 per cent VAT on the hammer price of this lot. * Pursuant to Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 of 5 April 2022, which comes into force in national law on 1 January 2025, EU buyers will also be required to pay 5.5% VAT on this lot https://d10dakqizeg4uw.cloudfront.net/VAE19/2535.mp4
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Auction time 10/15/2026 at 9:30 AM
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