A rare early ballooning gilt metal medal depicting the 'tethered' balloon of Henry Giffard - Paris.

Dated - 1878  By C. Trottin, Paris.

At the time the Giffard gas balloon was the largest captive balloon in the world and could carry up to
50 passengers, who were each given one of these medals as a souvenir of their flight.

The medal is in good original condition with some darkening of the gilt - this could be sympathetically
cleaned, but has been left as original. It also retains its French ribbon and T bar - these are very often
missing from other known examples.

An identical medal can be viewed in the  BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION