Ancient, British and World Coins. Tokens, Tickets and Passes. Historical and Art Medals. British and World Paper Money.

France, Exposition Universelle Internationale, Paris, 1900, a bronze medal by J.-C. Chaplain, head of La France right under the bough of a tree, reverse male figure holding torch above a winged female figure of Victory, Expo pavilion below, tablet with inscription société française des cylindres artistiques pour phonographes et graphophones, 64mm (PBE 81; Baxter 95; BDM I, 404; cf. DW 19, 257 and DNW 38, 747); Pathe Frères, c.1910, a yellow-brass repoussé by E.-H. Becker, cockerel standing on plinth, numbered (26248), 37mm. [2]. About extremely fine and better, both rare, interesting early pieces relating to the recording and film industries (£30-40)

The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877.

Pathe Frères, founded in 1896 by a French industrialist, Charles Pathe (1863-1957), became the largest film company in the world by the outbreak of World War I. In 1904 they made Les Misérables, the first long film, and in 1908 began producing the famous Pathe newsreels. After the War the competition from Hollywood and the US film industry saw Pathe in decline and the founder himself retired from the business in 1929