1899 Yverdon

Actual 45 mm size by Alfred Jacot-Guillarmod, Le Locle

Obverse.

In Neolithic times stands the bygone primeval huntsman, broad of shoulder, muscled in torso. Donning a fur loincloth around his waist, and a leathery sling from where his trusty whetstone axe is tethered, his menacing gaze extends a deadly warning to foes and strangers. His right hand grips a bridled bow, his left out-stretched arm prepares to shoot an arrow, a rallying call to comrades in arms.

A youthful maiden, of similar attire and composure, takes heed of this call to arms. And on one knee, she takes aim with her faithful bow, readying to unleash that fatal shot.

Against the backdrop of a humble stilt hut spartanly erected of local vines, wood and hay, the brave defenders arise to protect their beloved land nestled along the water edge of Lac du Neuchatel.

Inscriptions.

Libertas Patria – Freedom for the Homeland

Reverse.

A pair of sharpshooters’ rifles of past and present eras, tethered at the barrels by ribbons bearing the inscriptions of ‘Libertas & Patria’. Adorning the blazon, the emblem of the city of Yverdon, denoted by the letter Y and twin wavy lines.

Half hidden beneath the floral elements lies the symbolic Cross of the Confederacy, the true strength behind the canton of Vaud, staunchly delivering the rights of independence and liberty to all its members.

Background.

Yverdon is located in the heart of a natural setting formed by the Jura mountains, the plains of the Orbe, the hills of the Broye and Lake Neuchâtel.

The heights nearby Yverdon seem to have been settled at least since the Neolithic Age about 5000 BCE, as present archeological evidence shows. The town was at that time only a small market place, at the crossroads of terrestrial and fluvial communication ways. People began to settle, at first in temporary huts at the waterfront, for fishers and merchants, then in permanent dwellings.

In reminiscence of the humble beginnings of the municipal district of Yverdon, of the Canton Vaud.