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FRANCE: AR medal (114.4g), 1870-1871 (struck 1876), VF-EF

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - Europe Start Price:110.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 200.00 USD
FRANCE: AR medal (114.4g), 1870-1871 (struck 1876), VF-EF
SOLD
200.00USD+ (40.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2024 Mar 05 @ 11:43UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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FRANCE: AR medal (114.4g), 1870-1871 (struck 1876), 63mm silver medal for Aeriel Communications during the Siege of Paris by Charles Jean Marie Degeorge, Paris seated left at cannon realeasing pigeons with small balloon in sky to right and Notre Dame in right background, with PARIS / 1870-1871 in exergue // pigeons in flight and standing in loft with foliage to left and Paris fortifications and curved road in background and COMMUNICATIONS AÉRIENNES in exergue, ARGENT and privy mark on edge, scarce in this larger size, VF-EF, S. Pigeons were used prior to the Siege of Paris, but this is probably the most famous use of them in a military situatiion. Louis Napoleon III and his forces surrendered to the French Army of Chalons at Sedan about six weeks after hostilities broke out. This was the end of the Second Empire, but the Prussians sensed a vacuum and quickly moved on Paris. For about 4-1/2 months, the Prussians stopped postal and telegraph services to and frrom Paris. Parisians then employed pigeons to relay messages to and from the city.