fjt_072408 - NANTES (ALDERMANS AND MAYORS OF...) Mathurin Bellabre 1752

NANTES (ALDERMANS AND MAYORS OF...)

The Town Hall of Nantes was installed in 1565 after having been created by François II in 1560, with the right to elect its aldermen. The first strikes of tokens are attested by the texts from 1569. The first tokens do not bear the name of the mayor, they are tokens of aldermen. A second period began in 1631 with the appearance of the mayor's name on the tokens. The coat of arms appeared in 1637. There are silver and copper tokens for this period. In the 18th century, on the other hand, most tokens were made of silver. In 1787, the mayor received 140 silver tokens and each alderman received 70, making a total of 700 annual tokens. Several studies have been made on this series: Fornier, in his study on the tokens of Brittany, listed 100 different tokens. Perthuis and de la Nicollière count 103 in the Golden Book of the Nantes City Hall, Soullard, Tokens of the Mayors of Nantes, finds a total of 135.