LOUIS XV HERCULES and CACUS RARE GENUINE MEDAL 1716 Start Price USD 145.00 Current Price USD 145.00 Time Left - Bid Count 1 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, October 05, 2008 End Time Sunday, October 12, 2008 Location Cataluña See more about ' LOUIS XV HERCULES and CACUS RARE GENUINE MEDAL 1716' Description From an huge collection of coins and medals built-up between 18th and 19th century by 3 generations of the same family. Rare bronze medal LOUIS XV  CHAMBRE DE JUSTICE 1716 The Avenger of Fraud HERCULES AND CACUS  Obverse: The youthful bust of Louis XV.  Reverse: Hercules about to bludgeon the thief Cacus who had stolen his cows. The reverse is dated 1716 and notes its authority, the Chambre de Justice. On this medal, , the reform of the sorry state of French finances at the end of Louis XIV's reign is allegorized by the tale of Hercules and Cacus. CACUS, a fabulous Italian shepherd, who was believed to have lived in a cave, and to have committed various kinds of robberies. Among others, he also stole a part of the cattle of Hercules or Recaranus; and, as he dragged the animals into his cave by their tails, it was impossible to discover their traces. But when the remaining oxen passed by the cave, those within began to bellow, and were thus discovered. Another tradition stated, that Caca, the sister of Cacus, betrayed the place of their concealment. Cacus was slain by Hercules. (Liv. i. 7.) He is usually called a son of Vulcan, and Ovid, who gives his story with considerable embellishments, describes Cacus as a fearful giant, who was the terror of the whole land. (Ov. Fast. i. 554; comp. Virg. Aen. viii. 190, &c.; Propert. iv. 9; Dionys. i. 32, 43; Aurel. Vict. De Orig. Gent. Rom. 6.) Evander, who then ruled over the country in which Cacus had resided, shewed his gratitude to the conqueror of Cacus by dedicating to him a sanctuary, and appointing the Potitii and Pinarii as his priests. The common opinion respecting the original character of Cacus is, that lie was the personification of some evil daemon, and this opinion is chiefly founded upon the descriptions of him given by the Roman poets. Hartung (Die Relig. d. Röm. i. p. 318, &c.), however, thinks that Cacus, whom he identifies with Cacius (Diod. iv. 21; Solin. i. 1), and his sister Caca were Roman penates, whose names he connects with Kaiô, caleo, and coquo. There were at Rome various things connected with the legends about Cacus. On the side of the Palatine hill, not far from the hut of Faustulus, there was a foot-path leading up the hill, with a wooden ladder called "the ladder of Cacus," and the ancient cave of Cacus, which is still shewn at Rome, was in the Salina, near the Porta Trigemina Size: 41 mm (1.61 inches) / Weight: 31,4 g / Metal: Bronze Genuine, No Hallmark on the edge Quality : see pictures. On the obverse of the medal, there's  an old varnish (often, in olden days, collectors used to varnish bronze coins or medals to protect them from corrosion, most of the time when they were leaving close up to the sea). This varnish will be easy to clean with solvent by the buyer if he wants to. RARE ! Buy a piece of history ! We've just bought an amazing collection built-up between 18th and 19th centuries by 3 generations of collectors from the same family. We will put hundreds european medals and coins from 15th to 19th century in our eBay store. Have a look, often... Check out our other items! Be sure to add us to your favorites list! All our items are send by registered letters (for overseas transactions Via Air Mail priority). Quick delivery and safety for the buyer Shipping costs = Royal Spanish post fees Save money = several items bought = combinated shipping OFFICIAL RATES REGISTERED LETTER ROYAL SPANISH POST prices are in euro currency Poids-Weight España Europe Monde-World 101-200 g 3,65 € 6,25 € 7,29 € 201-350 g 4,50 € 9,40 € 11,54 € 351-500 g 6,00 € 12,10 € 18,24 € 501-1000 g 6,50 € 13,75 € 20,99 € 1001-1500 g 6,95 € 19,45 € 33,24 € 1501-2000 g 7,30 € 21,90 € 37,99 € If you want to calculate your shipping cost, please don’t forget that those prices are in EURO currency and also think to the weight of packaging. Any question, just ask us! Follow our pseudo tarcit and that by doing so that you will find many other articles that interest you! We're in Spain but you can contact us in english. For payment we prefer PayPal (free of charge) but we accept bank transfer. Usually the delay between Spain and USA is about 7 days. Place a Bid!