1855 PARIS Universal Exposition Award SILVER Medal NAPOLEON III Very RARE
Very RARE LARGE SILVER MEDAL !!!!
In UNCIRCULATED condition as you can see in the pictures
This is the award medal to the one who attended the exposition and won an award.
1855 exposition was to celebrate the 40 years peace in Europe after the battle of Waterloo.
The NAPOLEON III figure and beatiful images on the back are the highlight of this medal.
Beautifully designed and very RARE
The exposition was a major event in France, then newly under the reign of Emperor Napoleon III.
It followed London's Great Exhibition of 1851 and attempted to surpass
that fair's The Crystal Palace with its own Palais de l'Industrie. The industrial and art exhibits
shown on this occasion were considered superior to those of all previous exhibitions.[citation needed]
According to its official report, 5,162,330 visitors attended the exposition,
of which about 4.2 million entered the industrial exposition, and 0.9 million entered the Beaux Arts exposition.
[citation needed] Expenses amounted to upward of $5,000,000,
while receipts were scarcely one-tenth of that amount.
The exposition covered 16 hectares (40 acres) with 34 countries participating.
For the exposition, Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best
Bordeaux wines which were to be on display for visitors from around the world.
Brokers from the wine industry ranked the wines according to a château's
reputation and trading price, which at that time was directly related to quality.
The result was the important Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
SILVER, 59.8 mm,
4 mm thick
124.73 gram silver
Obv. High relief bare head of the Emperor r. Rev. Imperial Arms of France on mantle
with scepter and Main de Justice, circle of shields of 20 participating countries
including U.S., Britain, Spain, Papacy, Austria, German and Italian States but no Russia.
Scroll below the shields announces EXPOSITION. UNIVERSELLE. AGRICULTURE. INDUSTRIE.
BEAUX. ARTS. Struck by the Paris Mint, edgemark Pointing Hand, OR.
This was the first really great world's fair held in Europe, which became
the immediate model for dozens more held into the 1960's. The prestige of
Napoleon III was greatly enhanced and Europeans discovered how convenient
rail and steamer travel made access to the "City of Lights," Paris of the Second Empire.
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