FRANCE - FRANCE Consulate (1799-1804). Medal, laying of the foundation stone of the departmental column (Place Vendôme), by Gatteaux An VIII (1800), Paris. Av. BONAPARTE PREMIER CONSUL / CAMBACERES SECd. CONSl. LEBRUN THIRD. CONSl. Busts joined on the right of the three consuls: Napoleon Bonaparte, Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès and Charles François Lebrun; below, signature: GATTEAUX; with the exergue: CONSTITUTION/ DE LA RÉPUB. AN VIII. Rv. WAR OF LIBERTY / THE DEPARTMENT OF THE SEINE TO ITS BRAVE MEN. In the field, in nine lines: COLONNE/ DÉPARTEMENTALE/ LUCIEN BONAPARTE/ ETANT MINISTRE DE L'INTERIEUR/ N. TH. B. FROCHOT PREFET OF/ DEPT. DE LA SEINE LAID THE STONE ON XXV MESSIDOR AN VIII/ XI YEARS AFTER XIV JULY/ MDCCLXXXIX. Br.64 - Jul.839 - Ess.849 ; Silver - 92,97 g - 60 mm - 12 h Special strike with satiny relief and mirror fields. Barely cleaned with a few hairlines. Minimal marks on the scrolls. Spectacular medal. Very rare. Superb. On 29 Ventôse An VIII (20 March 1800), Bonaparte decreed the erection of a National Column on Place de la Concorde to celebrate those who had rendered important services to the fatherland, and a Departmental Column was to be erected on Place Vendôme. The foundation stone was laid on 14 July 1800 (XXV Messidor An VIII).