Owner Comments:
Purchased on 3/12/2012.
This is a jeton commemorating the re-election of Jean-Baptiste Gellée de Prémion in 1776, as the Mayor of Nantes. He was first elected as the 80th Mayor of Nantes in 1754 and served 10 years. Upon his re-election in 1776 he served another 6 years until 1782. The Mayor of Nantes is an elected position, and exists to this day as a highly sought after seat.
Nantes itself is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, some 30 miles from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants. Nantes, labeled art and history city, is the capital city of the Pays de la Loire region and the Loire-Atlantique département and also the largest city in the Grand-Ouest (North western France). Together with Vannes, Rennes and Carhaix, it was one of the major cities of the historic province of Brittany, and the ancient Duchy of Brittany.
Nantes plays an important role as a "port city", and thus the maritime sea horse theme (with ties to the God Neptune) is a common one. On the side of the jeton featuring the city's official coat of arms, the surrounding text contains the name "Gellée de Prémion".