On 6 October 1896, the Russian fleet visited the port of Cherbourg. Tsar Nicholas II was also on board and was hospitably received by the French authorities. A medal with an allegorical representation of the meeting between the two countries was to immortalise this event. It was struck at the Monnaie de Paris although this institution had not had a monopoly on striking medals for several years. However, there were still a number of well-known engravers associated with the Monnaie de Paris including this Frédéric-Charles Victor de Vernon, a pupil of Chaplain.