SWITZERLAND. Neuenburg/Neuchâtel. Henri II d’Orléans-Longueville, 1595-1663. Medal of 20 Ducats (Gold, 52 mm, 68.77 g, 12 h), on his marriage with Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon-Condé. By J. Warin. No date (1642). H•AVRELIANVS•D•LONGAVILLÆVS•C•DVN•S•P•NO Draped and cuirassed bust of Henri d'Orléans to right. Rev. AN.GEN•BORBONIA•D.LONG.S.P.NOVICASTRI Draped bust of Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon-Condé to left. Forrer VI, -, cf. p. 371 (in bronze). Gessner -, cf. 2891 (in bronze). Haller 2081 var. (26-27 Ducats). Pollard -, cf. 663 (in bronze). SM -, cf. 1471 (in bronze). Of the highest rarity, apparently the second recorded example in gold. An exceptionally attractive original cast and of great historical and numismatic importance. With old suspension loop attached. Minor scratches and marks, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.


Henri II d’Orléans-Longueville (1595-1663) was the son of Henri I d’Orléans-Longueville (1568-1595) and Catarina Gonzaga (1568-1629). As a high-ranking French noble, he played a crucial role in European diplomacy during the Thirty Years' War. He led the French delegation in the negotiations that resulted in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which effectively ended the war and reshaped the political landscape of Europe. In his personal capacity as Prince of Neuchâtel, Henri II successfully secured the formal exclusion of the Old Swiss Confederacy from the Holy Roman Empire, a significant step in Switzerland’s journey toward full independence. He also sought the official admission of Neuchâtel and Valangin into the Swiss Confederation. Henri II was thus a precursor to Switzerland’s long-term independence and of great importance to the country.

Beyond diplomacy, Henri II was a key figure in the Fronde (1648-1653), a series of civil wars in France that saw rebellious nobles clash with the monarchy. As a leading Frondeur, he opposed Cardinal Mazarin’s (1602-1661) centralization of power, but ultimately failed to curb royal authority.

His wife, Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon-Condé (1619-1679), was a charismatic and politically astute noblewoman. A member of the powerful House of Bourbon-Condé, she was admired for her beauty in her youth and became embroiled in courtly intrigues from an early age. In 1642, she married Henri II. Two years later, she was rumored to have had an affair with François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680), who would later be remembered as a distinguished writer and a leading figure in French moralist literature.

Like her husband, Anne-Geneviève became deeply involved in the Fronde, a role that ultimately led to her fall from favor and exile. She outlived Henri II and, in her later years, turned increasingly toward Jansenism, a controversial theological movement often regarded as heretical by the Catholic Church.

Following the death of his first wife, Mademoiselle de Soissons (1603-1637), Henri II’s marriage to Anne Geneviève de Bourbon-Condé was arranged to strengthen the ties between the House of Orléans-Longueville and the powerful Bourbon-Condé family. This alliance pulled Henri II into the Fronde alongside his brother-in-law, Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (1621-1686), one of the most formidable military commanders of the 17th century. Condé’s rebellion against Cardinal Mazarin - and by extension, against the young King Louis XIV (1638-1715) - placed the Orléans-Longueville family in a precarious position at court. Henri II’s marriage to Anne-Geneviève was far from harmonious. She was widely known for her affair with the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, and her son, Charles Paris (1649-1672), was almost certainly the product of that relationship. Nevertheless, Henri II chose to recognize him as his legitimate heir, despite the scandal it caused.

Our very impressive gold medal in the weight of 20 Ducats is the work of the renowned French medalist Jean Warin (died 1672). As Graveur Général of the French Mint and a favored protégé of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), Warin played a pivotal role in the introduction of the Louis d’or and the Écu blanc into the French monetary system between 1640 and 1641.

Warin was highly selective in accepting medal commissions, and when he did, he produced large-scale dies of exceptional artistic quality, featuring strikingly detailed portraits, such as the one on our medal. J. Forrer described him as 'one of the foremost medallists of France and the best French engraver of coin dies of the seventeenth century' (L. Forrer: Biographical Dictionary of Medals, Vol. VI, London 1916, p. 361).

Our medal was most likely designed in 1642 at the Louvre Mint as part of a parallel project during the production of dies for the new Écus. While bronze cast copies of this medal occasionally appear on the market, an original gold medal - like the piece presented here - has, to the best of our knowledge, never before been available for sale and is absent from all major medal collections and publications. In fact, the only known reference to such a gold medal comes from G. E. von Haller, who noted in 1781 that Monsieur Merveilleux of Neuchâtel once owned an 'exceedingly beautiful' gold medal, reportedly weighing 26 to 27 ducats (G. E. von Haller: Schweizerisches Münz= und Medaillenkabinet, Zweyter Theil, Bern 1781, p. 279). This makes our piece only the second known example, uniquely combining historical significance to both Swiss and French history with the masterful engraving of a distinguished medalist.