France LOUIS XIII 1686 Discovery of the 5 moons of Saturn
bronze medal 41.4mm
Christiaan Huygens discovered the first known moon of Saturn, Titan in 1655. Jean-Dominique Cassini made the next four discoveries: Iapetus (1671), Rhea (1672), Dione (1684), and Tethys (1684).
Although Italian, Cassini moved to France in the late 1660’s so France took the credit for his discoveries. The king had sponsored the project – thus this medal was produced with his portrait.
