Pierre-Amédée Durand’s Famous People of the World Medals


To paraphrase Winston Churchill, this series, and its issuer, are somewhat like a riddle wrapped in mystery, inside an enigma. Virtually nothing has been written in English about Durand and his medals. Because of this, the series has been largely ignored by the English-speaking collecting fraternity.


What is known has been gathered from French sources and Paul Bosco’s website, which cites information from Paul’s friend, Jean Vacherot. Durand (1789-1873) was born in Paris. He was a graduate of the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Paris and was made a Commander of the French Empire by Louis XVIII. His initial offering was his Metallic Gallery of the Famous Men of France, begun in 1817. This was followed, beginning in 1818, with his Great Men of the World Series, the subject of this group. The fabric of both series is similar, in that they are all 41mm and the vast majority struck in copper. The silver Dante Alighieri (Lot 1155) is the only one in this metal that I’ve ever seen and may very well be unique.


The distinguishing characteristic between the two series is in the legends; the France series is in French while the World series is in Latin. At the time, the Paris Mint had a monopoly on the striking of medals, so those issued between 1817 and 1826 were struck there without any edge markings. As Durand considered this monopoly an infringement on his economic rights, he moved his dies and production to Munich between 1827 to 1843. The Munich-produced medals are easily distinguished as they have the edge mark ‘Monachii’. In 1844 production returned to Paris. Vacherot indicates that more than 150 individuals were so commemorated and, with possible die and edge variations, the total number of variants extant exceeds 400. No information has as yet been found indicating how individuals were selected for inclusion, the number issued for each, or how they were marketed. In my experience, all are either scarce, rare or very rare.


My first exposure to this series was with Washington Born Virginia. These medals are an anomaly, with the existence of three distinct varieties (Lots 1166-8) clearly explained by Neil Musante in his 2016 standard work, including one with the statesman’s name Germanicized to ‘Wasington’. Next was Franklin Born Boston (Lot 1164). At this point I decided I needed some sort of rational to justify adding yet another collection to my numismatic holdings. After considerable thought, I decided that if I were to invite people up to my lake house for a summer of conversation, fishing, golf, barbecues and cards, who would it be? With that logic, and on that basis, the ‘Boys at the Lake Collection’ was born. Now, after many enjoyable summers, it is time for the Boys to move on. Now is your chance.


The Merchant of the Islands


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