100304 | FRANCE. Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique bronze Medal.

100304 | FRANCE. Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique bronze Medal. Struck 1939. Commemorating the Maiden Voyage of the "Pasteur" Service Line (67mm, 154.92 g, 12h). By F. Bazin in Paris.

 

Bare head of Louis Pasteur right; to left and right, vignettes displaying pastoral and domestic scenes from the South Atlantic; in four lines in exergue, –PASTEUR– / BIENFAITEUR DE / L'HUMANITE / 1822.1895 / Cie DE NAVIGATION / SUD–ATLANTIQUE, perspective view from the right of the vessel breaking waves left; PAQUEBOT PASTEUR / 1939 in exergue. Edge: «triangle» BRONZE.

 

Choice Mint State. Exceptional yellow-bronze matte surfaces and relief. A beautiful Art Deco design. Rare, especially with original round box of issue.

 

Though initially intended to service routes in the South Atlantic, the Pasteur was soon thereafter pressed into wartime service during WWII, playing a major role in the transport of allied soldiers. She eventually passed under the control of shipping companies located in Germany, Greece, Saudi Arabia, and ultimately the Philippines, whereupon she—rechristened as the Filipinas Saudi I—capsized while being towed in the Indian Ocean in 1980.

 

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