FRANCE - FRANCE Third Republic (1870-1940). Gold token of the Commission des auteurs dramatiques, attributed to Ludovic Halévy 1875, Paris. Av. UNITED AND FREE. A lyre on which is placed a bishop (chess pawn), with a mirror, a feather and a sword in saltire, signature DOMARD F and engraved attribution. Rv. FOUNDED ON 7 MARCH 1829. Within a crown of two branches: COMMISSION DES AUTEURS DRAMATIQUES. Gold - 22.35 g - 31 mm - 12 h Top Pop: this is the only engraved copy! With engraved attribution: Mr LUDOVIC HALÉVY 1872-1875. From a Collin du Bocage sale, expert S. Sombart, 11 December 2009, No. 261. NGC MS 63 (8583606-010). Hallmarks (bee) GOLD. Special strike with satin-finish relief and mirror fields. Corner flower. Ludovic Halévy (1834-1908) was a playwright, librettist of operettas and operas, and novelist. He collaborated on numerous operetta librettos with Léon Battu, Hector Crémieux, and above all Henri Meilhac (1831-1897), with whom he wrote the librettos for Jacques Offenbach's most famous operettas, including La Belle Hélène (1864), La Vie parisienne (1866), La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867) and La Périchole (1869), as well as Georges Bizet's Carmen (1875). He was also the son-in-law of the watchmaker and physicist Louis Breguet.