1790 Lafayette Avenger of Liberty in Two Worlds medal. Cast pewter, 41.5 mm. Fuld LA.1790.7, Olivier-10.

1790 Lafayette Avenger of Liberty in Two Worlds medal. Cast pewter, 41.5 mm. Fuld LA.1790.7, Olivier-10. Crude Choice Extremely Fine or better. Dusky light gray with pale blue undertones. Problem free and essentially as made, with just a few marks on Lafayette's cheek. A very crudely made production, cast from molds on the streets of Paris during the French Revolution to honor one of its early heros (and, later, enemies): the Marquis de Lafayette. This medal was molded from the finely struck Avenger of Liberty medal by Duvivier, but the legends were hand re-tooled in the mold and a retrograde 1790 was placed in the obverse exergue. This one shows a heavy sprue (or casting gate) at 3:00 on the reverse and some as-made crumbling around the reverse rim. Most of the legends are legible, which makes this example better than most. Quite scarce, missing from the thorough Boyd-Ford collection of Lafayette medals. The Fuld plate coin, which was offered in Stack's 2010 sale of the Patriot Collection, is the only other specimen offered recently. This is a fascinating historical relic from the greatest upheaval of the French Revolution, marking Lafayette's role in that revolution as well as our own.