41 - FRANCE — 1963 New Year’s Medal from the Administration of Coins and Medals, by Raymond Joly (1911–2006).

FRANCE — 1963 New Year’s Medal from the Administration of Coins and Medals, by Raymond Joly (1911–2006). Obverse: “I ILLUMINATE AND I FERTILIZE / NOT EVEN DEATH HAS SEPARATED THEM / FAITHFULNESS WATER THE LILIES / IT PLEASES BUT IT STINGS / BEWARE OF THE DECEPTIVE LURES OF VAIN PLEASURE / MY CONSTANCY WILL BRING ME HAPPINESS / WHOEVER YOU ARE, HERE IS YOUR MASTER—HE IS, WAS, OR MUST BE.” A radiant sun-shaped medallion at the center, surrounded by a six-pointed star and six polygonal compartments depicting emblematic 18th-century tokens, separated by flowering branches. Reverse: “BEST WISHES • BEST WISHES • BEST WISHES • BEST WISHES • / RISING FROM ITS ASHES / BLESSED IS HE WHO CAN GUESS / PRUDENCE MUST GUIDE ME / THE STRANGER THE TURN, THE HAPPIER SHE IS.” A radiant cornucopia in the center, surrounded by four octagonal compartments depicting 18th-century allegories (the Phoenix, the Astrologer, Prudence, the Winged Genius) alternating with a colophon in four cartouches detailing the medal’s production at the Monnaie de Paris under the direction of Pierre Dehaye in November 1963. Material: Gilded bronze. Diameter: 10 mm.