Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

1822 Dated France Bronze Caque NGC MS63BN C.F. Chasseboeuf

Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney (3 February 1757 – 25 April 1820) was a French philosopher, abolitionist, writer, orientalist, and politician. He was at first surnamed Boisgirais after his father's estate, but afterwards assumed the name of Volney (which he had created as a contraction of Voltaire and Ferney).

Out of stock

SKU 6285490001

Description / 1822 Dated France Bronze Caque NGC MS63BN C.F. Chasseboeuf

Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney (3 February 1757 – 25 April 1820) was a French philosopher, abolitionist, writer, orientalist, and politician. He was at first surnamed Boisgirais after his father's estate, but afterwards assumed the name of Volney (which he had created as a contraction of Voltaire and Ferney).

Early life and the French Revolution

Volney was born at Craon, Anjou (today in Mayenne), of a noble family. Initially interested in law and medicine, he went on to study classical languages, and his Mémoire sur la Chronologie d'Hérodote (on Herodotus) rose to the attention of the Académie des Inscriptions and of the group around Claude Adrien Helvétius. Soon after, he befriended Pierre Jean George Cabanis, the Marquis de Condorcet, the Baron d'Holbach, and Benjamin Franklin.

He embarked on a journey to the East in late 1782 and reached Egypt, where he spent nearly seven months. He then lived for nearly two years in Greater Syria, in what today is Lebanon and Israel/Palestine, in order to learn Arabic. In 1785 he returned to France, where he spent the next two years compiling his notes and writing his Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie (1787) and Considérations sur la guerre des Turcs et de la Russie (1788).

He was a member both of the Estates-General and of the National Constituent Assembly after the outbreak of the French Revolution. In 1791 his essay on the philosophy of history appeared, Les Ruines, ou méditations sur les révolutions des empires. It conveys a vision predicting the union of all religions through the recognition of the common truths underlying them all.

Volney tried to put his politico-economic theories into practice in Corsica, where in 1792 he bought an estate and made an attempt to cultivate colonial produce. He was imprisoned during the Jacobin Club triumph, but escaped the guillotine. He spent some time as a professor of history at the newly founded École Normale.

Volney was a deist.

Check out all the great US Coins, Paper Money, Ancients, World and Exonumia at Sarasota Numismatics. We are happy to answer any questions about this or anything in our vast inventory.

More Information

Grading Service NGC
Year of Issue 1822
Denomination Type Token & Medal
Grade MS63
Designation BN
Mint Location NONE
Strike Type Business
Circ/UnCirc Uncirculated
Holder Type N/A