French owl coin (or medal!)

Hi friends,

I'm Leonardo, 33, from Brazil.
First of all, my thanks to numista website for all the help and information available. A great tool for all lovers of numismatics.

I'm new here on the forum and I have a question about this friendly owl medal (or coin!).
Well, for me this has been a very difficult challenge, try to identify the origin and the purpose of this piece.





What is it?

So far my research led me to believe that it could be a military artifact, perhaps a medal of any French troops at that time, I don't know... The year, according to a friend can be between 1850-90.
It was found in the backyard of my neighbor, who gave me it.
Hope someone can tell me more about.

Best,

Looks more like 1890's-1910's, many tokens and medallions were issued with this Liberte head design.

You'd probably be better to ask on the French speaking forum

SmartOneKg, thank you very much for the tip. Yes, I found out several similar medals (and coins) from this date with very similar design. One of them with exactly the same Marianne's head, by the way, in a no less intriguing 5 francs where is equally interesting the absence of the date.

http://www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,269636112,var,RARE-JETON-DE-5-FRANCS-REPUBLIQUE-FRANCAISE,language,E.html

This another design is quite similar and although not exactly the same, is dated 1878.

http://www.gold-stater.com/images/artnouveau/005achaplain%20large.JPG

neilithic, thank you very much for the advice. I'm trying to do that too.

Here are some extra information that I forgot to post.
She measures 38mm, weighs exactly 14g, probably in brass.

And my piece is not unique. I also found this another one:

http://www.omnicoin.com/coin/1019384