FRANCE: SAINT HELENA MEDAL (MÉDAILLE DE SAINTE-HÉLÈNE)

France. Saint Helena Medal (Médaille de Sainte-Hélène).

The medal was instituted on 12 August 1857 by Emperor Napoleon III to ‘honour with a special distinction the soldiers who fought under the flag of France in the great wars of 1792 to 1815’ and awarded to survivors of the wars of Revolution and Empire some 42 years after their end.

It was designed by the great medalist Désiré-Albert Barre and produced by the Imperial Mint in Paris.