Continuing my tour of European gold, here's a classic one I picked up. Probably not the most exciting coin for American collectors given this is the Latin Monetary Union, something most people on this side of the world have never heard of, but I absolutely love it.
The Latin Monetary Union was a European common currency agreement in which all signatory members and their colonies agreed to standardize their currencies to the French Franc, which is why so many gold coins of the era have the same size and the same gold content, 0.1867 oz (5.8 gram of gold). It lasted from 1865 to 1927. Many more countries that were not part of the agreement also standardized their currencies to the Latin Monetary Union. Which is why you'll also find some South American and Latin American gold and silver coins with the same metal composition, size, and weight as European coins of this era, even though the coin might display a value in "Pesos" or other currency name instead of Franc. WWI kinda killed it though with how many countries had to abandon the gold standard, and by 1927 it was done. But yeah, that's why this coin.... has the same value, melt value, size, and composition as this coin......
I don't see any reason why American collectors wouldn't appreciate this coin. This and the French 20 francs you showed are beautiful, which is why they are the only larger gold coins I've ever purchased myself.
A lovely coin. I owned one at one time but sold it to finance sonething. This ranks as my favorite European gold I own. Not nearly as hefty as the 20 Fr., but a nice chunk of older gold!
That 10 Franc is sweet. Never seen one. I'll have to try to hunt one down. Nice South African sovereign too.
