France 1831 Louis Philippe I Rouen Mint Visit 5 Francs Medallion Very Good (VG8) DOD

France 1831 Louis Philippe I Rouen Mint Visit 5 Francs Medallion Very Good (VG8) DOD

When the July Revolution tore the would-be despot Charles X from France's throne, he was replaced with his much milder cousin, Louis Philippe. Called the Citizen King, Louis Philippe had actually fought in the Revolution on the Revolutionary side -- at least, until the execution of his cousin, King Louis XVI, disillusioned him. He tried his best, throughout his eighteen-year reign, to strike a balance between the royalist and republican factions that were threatening France's delicate stability. His success was mixed; his is the reign opposed by the revolutionaries in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables, based on the very real June Rebellion that rocked Paris in 1832. Nevertheless, Louis Philippe was mostly tolerated until government overreach, combined with agricultural disaster and economic depression, spilled over into the French Revolution of 1848. Louis was forced to abdicate, and his heir, Prince Philippe, just nine years old, quickly fled France with his mother. The Second French Republic was proclaimed, with Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as president.

Representing a truly fascinating period in French history, this 5 franc coin features the bust of Louis Philippe on the obverse. He does not wear a crown; only a wreath made of oak tied with a ribbon. 1831 was early in Louis Philippe's reign; even when the radical republican set boiled over into armed revolution in 1832, public opinion was mostly in support of the king. This medallion commemorates Louis Philippe's visit to the Rouen Mint in May of 1831. Bronze, silver, and gold versions were produced to mark the occasion.