24. Hôtel des Monnaies.
One half of the space on the Quai Conti, between the Pont
Neuf and the Pont des Arts, is occupied by the extensive buildings
(completed in 1755) of the Mint, which are upwards of
120 yds. in length. The exhibition-rooms are open to the public
on Tuesdays and Fridays from 12 to 3 o'clock; the mint itself,
the work-rooms, laboratories etc. are accessible on the same
days at the same hours by special permission of the director,
for which application should be made to "Monsieur le Président
de la Commission des Monnaies et des Médailles, à l'Hôtel des
Monnaies". (Comp. form given at p. 141.)
The staircase to the r. in the vestibule ascends to the exhibition-rooms.
Beginning on the left hand side in the principal
room, the visitor will perceive an interesting collection of medals,
arranged chronologically, from the time of Charlemagne down to the
present day. Those of the reign of Louis XIV. and Louis Philippe
are especially numerous; the first case by the window also contains
medals of Luther, Bucer, Melancthon and Ignatius Loyola.
To the r. are exhibited coins of various states. The last case
contains the most ancient, those of the Merovingian period.
The three cases by the window to the r. contain a series of
smaller medals (jetons particuliers).
The following rooms contain models of dies, a collection of
medals of the period of the consulate and the empire, and others
in commemoration of the German campaigns of 1805—1807. A
model of the Vendôme Column, which is placed here, with the
statue of the emperor in his coronation robes, affords the visitor
a better opportunity of examining the relief and other details
than the original itself. Here too is a bust of Napoleon I. by
Canova, executed in 1806, and a cast of the emperor's face taken
20 hours after death.
The upper apartments contain a collection of old dies, royal
seals and other objects of little interest.
The Laboratoire and Ateliers, with their steam-engines, furnaces
and machinery, are well worth visiting. The coining-machines,
the invention of M. Thonnelier, are highly ingenious. — In the
same establishment are performed all the operations of assaying
and stamping the gold and silver wares of the jewellers, as well
as the coinage of private medals and counters, an especial privilege
of the Parisian mint.
Pont Neuf, see p. 98.
