102994 | UNITED STATES & FRANCE. "La Régiment de la Calotte" bronze Medal.

102994  |  UNITED STATES & FRANCE. La Régiment de la Calotte bronze Medal. Issued circa 1715 (44mm, 34.17 g, 12h). By Joseph-Charles Roettiers at the Paris mint.

 

RIDERE REGNARE EST (to laugh is to rule), Folley seated slightly right on throne set upon the clouds, holding scepter surmounted by Jester’s head // LUNA DUCE AUSPICE MOMO (with the moon as our leader, and under the auspices of Momus), coat-of-arms of the régiment: oval shield decorated with the three phases of the moon above scepter, surmounted by Jester’s head, set upon field of bees; above, facing helmet decorated with bells and surmounted by weathervane above cat left; to left and right, simian supporters, each with their heads turned outward and holding smoking cornucopias; all set upon floral scroll. Edge: Very subtle bruise, otherwise plain.

 

[C. Wyllys] Betts –; [Benjamin] Betts XXXVII; Adams S-3; McDowell 1140. Mint State. Glossy brown surfaces.

 

Struck for the Régiment de la Calotte, a festive and carnival society of military origin, this medal has been traditionally (and rather erroneously) ascribed to John Law, the famous Scottish economist of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Surrounded by a bad reputation for the disastrous results of his financial and economic adventures—such as the Mississippi bubble—he is now considered to have been a forerunner in his field. The whimsical nature of this medal could be viewed as a satire upon Law, with Benjamin Betts initially considering it a ridicule of the "Bubble-blower," but later acknowledging in his article John Law and his Medals (continued) in the January 1907 American Journal of Numismatics (vol. 41, no. 3) that the type listed as XXXVII was then no longer considered an applicable type. Given its presence, however, in a reference penned by an author named Betts, the type has oftentimes continued to be associated with John Law, possibly with unscrupulous or unknowing dealers and auction houses confusing the already unnecessary Benjamin Betts listing as, in fact, that of C. Wyllys Betts—the author of the reference commonly known for early American and related types. Though the attribution to the jovial French society is, indeed, correct, and though it is not associated with the exploits of John Law, it nevertheless remains a popular analog with the actual corpus of Betts medals.

 

Upload: 2 December 2024.