Ancient, British and World Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

France, Automobile-Club de Nice, 1901, a silver award plaque by A. Maillard, semi-nude female figure holding wreath above a motorist driving a car along a coastal road, reverse palm branch, tablet in centre named (Mr. Maurice Dollfus, Course de Côte 1909 (Route de la Turbie), Catégorie V, 2e. Prix), 71 x 55mm (cf. PBE 575; BDM III, 532; cf. BDW 5, 38). Good very fine, rare (£120-150)

An early award for the sport of hillclimbing on mountain roads; until very recently competitors in the Monte-Carlo Rally used part of the same la Turbie road, in the Alps above the principality, as a special stage. The original design for the plaque was commissioned by the Automobile-Club de Nice in 1901 and exhibited by Maillard at that year’s Paris Salon