France, 1906. Général Mercier and the Release from Prison of Alfred Dreyfus, bronze medal by J. Baffier, 50mm. Slight rim knock, otherwise very fine to extremely fine (£40-50)

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Historical and Art Medals.

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Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), born in Alsace, the son of a rich Jewish manufacturer was wrongly convicted of espionage in 1894 and, after a retrial, re-convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 1899. An innocent victim of malice, injustice and forgery he was not completely cleared until 1906, when anti-Semitism in France had waned, despite the strength of opposition from the French Right. He fought in World War One and was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1919. Proof of Dreyfus’s innocence was forthcoming on the publication of documents of the German military attaché in 1930.