103394 | RUSSIA & FRANCE. Russian Fleet to Toulon silvered bronze Medal.

103394  |  RUSSIA & FRANCE. Visit of the Russian Fleet to Toulon silvered bronze Medal. Issued 1893 (38mm, 21.91 g, 12h). By Louis-Alexandre Bottée at the Paris mint.

 

CRONSTADT 1891 * TOULON 1893, female personifications of Russia, seated right, and France, approaching left, clasping hands; harbor scene in background, with ships and lighthouse // • LA VILLE DE TOULON AUX MARINS RUSSES • / OCTOBRE 1893, garnished civic coat-of-arms of Toulon, with mural crown above; all within wreath of oak and laurel branches. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE.

 

Diakov –; Forrer –. Choice Mint State. Gunmetal gray surfaces, with some darker hues around the devices.

 

The Kronstadt-Toulon naval visits were a reciprocal form of relations between Russia and France, with each country's navy visiting a port in the other—France visiting Kronstadt in 1891 and Russia then visiting Toulon in 1893—the occasion for the issuance of this medal. These visits led to an alliance between the two and, upon the addition of Britain, the creation of the Triple Entente that would play a large role in World War I two decades later against the Central Powers.

 

Upload: 1 May 2026.