101610 | FRANCE. St. Nicholas/Christmastime bronze Medal.

101610  |  FRANCE. St. Nicholas/Christmastime bronze Medal. Issued circa 1950. "St. Nicholas and the Three Small Children" (58mm, 92.81 g, 12h). By A. Mouroux at the Paris Mint.

 

SAINT NICOLAS ET LES TROIS PETITS ENFANTS, St. Nicholas standing facing, cradling crozier and holding open book; three small children standing before him / Basket of toys: doll, plane, book, stuffed bear, ship, and parachute. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE.

 

Choice Mint State. Deep brown surfaces, with some lighter highlights and a charming matte nature. An alluring yuletide-themed medal.

 

Saint Nicholas of Myra was an early Christian bishop from the south-eastern coast of what is now Turkey in Asia Minor. Owing to the number of miracles ascribed to him during his lifetime, he became known as "Nicholas the Wonderworker." A much later legend associated to him revolved around the resuscitation of three small children who had been murdered and pickled by a butcher who planned to pass them off as pork during a famine. Later legends such as this, along with his overall piousness, led to allusions of secret gift-giving. As such, the modern tale of Santa Claus derived from this earlier figure of "Saint Nick," as presented on this medal.