=French Veteran's Medal.=--An interesting medal is that worn by French veterans who are members of the ~SOCIÉTÉ DE SECOURS MUTUELS FRANÇAISE DES EX MILITAIRES~. It bears this inscription in a circle, and on the reverse a trophy of arms. It is suspended from a wreath of laurel, tied with flying ribbons, by a ribbon into which is woven the colours of various war ribbons. APPENDIX I PISTRUCCI'S WATERLOO MEDAL In the year 1819, when the battle of Waterloo was still fresh in the minds of every one, the Prince Regent, who became George IV, being desirous of fitly commemorating the event, conceived the idea of doing so by the striking of a medal which by reason of its magnificence would do justice to the great achievement of arms. To this end a competition among the great artists of the day was suggested to the Royal Academicians, but they unanimously selected Flaxman to execute the commission. He produced a design which, approved by his peers, was passed on to Benedetto Pistrucci, a Roman who succeeded T. Wyon as chief engraver at the Royal Mint. Signor Pistrucci, however, refused to cut the dies, on the grounds that his abilities and position placed him above that of a mere die cutter. His claims were acceded to; Flaxman's designs were abandoned, and Pistrucci was commissioned to prepare a modelled design, which was "instantly honoured by the fullest and most flattering approbation of" the Prince Regent. He thereupon received instructions to cut the dies for a fee of £3,500, the price being based upon the assumption that the design contained as much work as thirty ordinary-sized medals, and certainly a glance at the reduced photographs facing page 80--the medal is 5½ in. in diameter--will give some idea of the exceeding amount of work which the famous die cutter and gem carver put into his _chef d'œuvre_. The dies were finished in 1849; and of the great men who were to receive the medal in gold, the Duke of Wellington--the greatest of them all--was the only survivor when a lead impression was taken for submission to the Lords of the Treasury. It is stated that the reason for the failure to strike from the massive dies was owing to the super difficulties which could not be overcome in any attempt to harden them. The real reason may, however, be found in our altered relationship with the Continental nations, and in consequence thereof the Government of the day had no desire to do anything which might give offence to our ally in 1850. It was felt, however, that Pistrucci's masterpiece should not be kept from the public, and the Lords of the Treasury handed the matrices to a Mr. Johnson of Alexander Terrace, Bayswater, who prepared a number of electrotypes, a pair of which have been kindly lent me for illustration herein by my friend and late student, Cecil Thomas, who, like Pistrucci, is one of the very few craftsmen who are equally at home in the cutting of steel or gem stones.