66 - FRANCE — The Birth of the Imperial Prince and the City of Paris’s Gift of His Cradle, 1856, by André Vauthier-Galle (1818–1899).

FRANCE — The Birth of the Imperial Prince and the City of Paris’s Gift of His Cradle, 1856, by André Vauthier-Galle (1818–1899). Obverse: “PACATVMQVE REGET PATRIIS VIRTVTIBVS ORBEM.” The imperial eagle with outspread wings cradling the newborn Imperial Prince, asleep on a bed of drapery, watched over and crowned by two winged genii supporting a radiant star above the initial N; at the bottom, the celestial arc with the signs of the zodiac. Signed: J. CAVELIER SCULPTOR / VAUTHIER GALLE ENGRAVER. Reverse: “THE CITY OF PARIS PRESENTS TO THE EMPEROR AND THE EMPRESS THE CEREMONIAL CRADLE OF THE IMPERIAL PRINCE,” with the exergue: “XVI MARS MDCCCLVI / FLVCTVAT NEC MERGITVR.” Set against a field strewn with imperial bees, a depiction of the Imperial Prince’s ceremonial cradle surmounted by a canopy crowned with an imperial crown; the whole rests on an entablature adorned in the center with the coat of arms of the City of Paris flanked by the date, with the city’s motto in a lower speech bubble. Material: Silver. Diameter: 76 mm. Weight: 207.05 g.