Circular silver medal; the face with a full-length female figure in classical dress, the caduceus of Hermes in her right hand, scales in her left, standing in a landscape, a town on a hill beyond, liquid flowing from amphoras at her feet (allegorical perhaps of the Land of Milk and Honey), inscribed above around the rim ‘IN MEDIO STAT VERUM’ (Latin = Truth stands in the middle), signed ‘BONNET F.’; the reverse inscribed ‘COURS OFFICIEL DES MARCHANDISES’ (Official Court of Commodities), circumscribed ‘LIBERTÉ DU COURTAGE LOI DU 18 JUILLET 1866’; hallmarked on the edge; diameter 36.9mm (1.45 inches), weight 22 grams (0.77oz). The Law of 18 July 1866 marked a major change in the legislation governing the sale of goods. Until that date, all trade in commodities was through a limited number of appointed brokers; afterwards, with the exception of a few reserved professions and commodities, there was freedom to trade in goods.
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