MAGIE / PRESTIDIGITATION - Advertising token from THEATRE COMTE (*) Passage Choiseul in PARIS - "à 6H ½ Abonnement de famille, Bon pour 4 personnes" - round brass 27 mm - TTB (*): The Théâtre Comte, a theater opened in 1820 by ventriloquist and magician Louis Comte. In 1855, Jacques OFFENBACH took over the lease and set up his Bouffes-Parisiens theater, a name the venue has retained to this day. Louis Christian Emmanuel Apollinaire Comte: born in Geneva in 1783 of a French father, died in Rueil on November 25, 1859 - highly renowned for his art of prestidigitation, Louis XVIII awarded him the title of "Physician to the King".

Composed of several subsidiaries, the Drouot Group is a major player in the art market. Hôtel Drouot, located in the heart of Paris, has been the world's largest public auction center since 1852. 15 salerooms are available to more than 70 auction houses. The emulation generated by an annual offer of 230,000 artworks from 21 major specialities - from Antiquity to street art - attracts some 3,000 visitors every day. The Group's digital platform, Drouot.com, offers digital sales - Live auctions (live broadcasting and participation in auctions), Online-only auctions (dematerialised auctions) and Buy Now sales (sales of lots at fixed prices). Nearly 2 million items are offered annually by 600 auction houses. Auction news is reported every week in La Gazette Drouot, the leading weekly magazine for the art market and culture published by Auctionspress.