ALGÉRIE - ALGERIA Louis-Philippe I (1830-1848). Medal, Ferdinand d'Orléans and the passage of the Iron Gates (Bibans) in 1839, by Borrel 1839, Paris (Durand éditeur). Av. FERDINAND PHILIPPE - LOUIS C. H. DUC D'ORLÉANS. Bare-headed bust of the Duke of Orléans on the right, on the right a palm and the inscription OFFERTE/ LE 4 9bre; below, signature BORREL. F. Rv. * A LA GLOIRE DE L'ARMÉE D'AFRIQUE *// LE 28 OCTOBRE 1839. Inscription in nine lines: PASSAGE/ DES PORTES DE FER./ S. A. ROYAL/ THE DUKE OF ORLÉANS,/ COMMANDING/ THE FIRST DIVISION./ MARSHAL VALÉE/ COMMANDER/ IN CHIEF. Ruedas 12 - Esc.12 - Fayolle 51; Copper - 64.2 g - 50.5 mm - 12 h From an iNumis sale, 6 May 2014, No. 129 then Pierre-René Bauquis collection. Hallmark (C and anchor interlaced) COPPER. With minor handling marks and brown patina. Almost Superb. During the conquest of Algeria, a French column including the Duc d'Orléans and Governor General Valée was the first to make the land junction between Algiers and Constantine via the iron gates (the Bibans). This passage went smoothly thanks to the support of the Amokrane Ahmed El-Mokrani (father of Sheikh El Mokrani), recognised as Khalifa of the Medjana by France, but the consequences were serious: the operation was considered by the Emir Abd el-Kader to be a violation of the Treaty of Tafna concluded in May 1837 and led him to resume the war in November 1839 (source: Wikipedia). Fayolle describes this medal and gives us some information about it: On the following day, 5 November 1839, the Duke of Orléans held a banquet on the esplanade of Bab-el-Oued for the division that had taken part in the Portes de Fer expedition with him; at the end of this wonderful celebration, the oldest of the lieutenants presented him with a palm of honour taken from the Portes de Fer itself; this is the palm that the engraver has reproduced on the front of the medal; but the artist must have made a small error: according to the Journal de l'Expédition des Portes de Fer (pp.310-315), the palm was presented to the Duc d'Orléans on 5 November and not on 4 November as the inscription engraved on the front of the medal indicates.