ST URBAIN, Ferdinand de: France, nd, ca. 1723, Bronze, 44 mm
Obv: Bust of young Louis XV (r) LVDOVICVS. XV. D. G. FRA. ET. NAVAR. REX.
Rev: Bust of Philip (r) PHILIPPVS. DVX. AVRELIANENSIS
Signed: S.V.
Ref: Forrer V, p. 310 # 56
From the Medallic Series of the Regency of the Duke of Orleans

Louis XV (1710–1774), King of France (1715–74), was the great-grandson and successor of King Louis XIV, and the son of Louis, titular duke of Burgundy, and Marie Adelaide of Savoy. Louis succeeded to the throne in 1715 at the age of five with Philippe II, duc d’Orléans as regent. After the regent died (1723), the king was guided by André Hercule de Fleury until Fleury died in 1743. Louis lacked both the will and interest to govern forcefully, and his reign was influenced by a succession of favorites. Of these, Mme de Pompadour and her adherents were the most important and were in favor from the 1730s until 1764.

While Louis was king, France was involved in a series of wars. As a result of the king’s marriage in 1725 to Marie Leszcynska, France took part in the War of the Polish Succession, eventually obtaining the duchy of Lorraine. Louis also involved France in the War of the Austrian Succession against Austria and, after a switch of alliances that realigned France with Austria, in the Seven Years War. The Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years War, marked the loss of most of France’s colonial empire and a low point in French prestige on the Continent.

Throughout the reign of Louis XV, the aristocracy asserted more influence, and the upper bourgeoisie gained more financial power. The country knew general prosperity, but the government was near bankruptcy because of its extravagances. The apathy of Louis XV in the face of these problems found expression in the saying "Après moi le déluge" [after me, the flood], wrongly attributed to the king himself. The failure of the monarchy to solve its fiscal difficulties led directly to the French Revolution during the reign of Louis’ successor, Louis XVI. (From The Columbia Encyclopedia)

Philippe (Philip) II (1674-1723), Duke of Orleans (1701-1723), Regent of France (1715-1723), was the son of Philippe I, Duke of Orleans and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine. He was also the nephew of King Louis XIV. In 1692, he married Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mlle de Blois, his first cousin and the legitimized daughter of Louis XIV and Mme de Montespan. This marriage won him the favor of the king.

Philippe fought at Sternkerk, Neewinden and Namur. He was successful in campaigns in Italy and Spain but his suspected desire to succeed Philip V, King of Spain, gained him Louis XIV’s disfavor. In 1715 he was appointed president of the council of regency of the young King Louis XV, and on Louis XIV’s death he invested himself with absolute power.

On the majority of King Louis XV in 1723, Philippe relinquished his supreme power but became first minister to the king until his death later that year. This is the event that the medal likely commemorates.