I have this France 20 Francs dated 1950, I get many of them and always check for the elusive 4 Plumes. Comparing this one to the diagram in Krause I`m undecided, what do you think ?
It depends on how good the drawing is. In the drawing, the farthest plume extends beyound the end of the "butt feathers", whereas yours is more in line, with placement, with the three variety drawing.
Maybe, but it's pretty hard to get away from the fact that there are 4 plumes on that coin. On the regular issue, there are only 3.
Is the farthest right one a plume or another group of feathers? I see 3-4 distinct tips on that group by themselves, and they are completely different from the other plumes. I am just saying without seeing examples of the 3 tail feather variety, I would be unsure whether this was a 3 or 4 feather type.
Not sure either. If I was forced to make a guess, I'd say three. Have a look at the examples here ("3 faucilles" vs "4 faucilles"); click on an image to see an enlarged version. http://www.cgb.fr/monnaies/modernes/m10/fr/sommairececb.html Christian
I agre Christian. Great link, ty. I concentrate on the distance of the far left feather versus the rump of the bird. On the 3 feather variety, it is quite far, but on the 4 feather it is touching. Given that, I would say that the OP coin is the 3 feather variety. Chris
Thanks for your views guys. I`m still unsure on this one, as I said I get many of these coins and always search for the 4 plumes, never found one yet but this one looked different to the others I normally get. I will try and find some of the others and do a photographic comparison
It's a three. The Krause drawing is worthless but if you look at the enlarged pictures of the 3 and 4 plume coins on the website chrisild posted it is perfectly clear. On the 4 plume the fourth feather arcs all the way out to the end of the tail feathers.
Worthless ? The Krause drawing shows the same thing. Apparently it's the positioning of the feathers that determines the variety, not the number of feather tips. I was counting tips Based on that, it's a 3.
You know what is funny? This discussion has somewhat unsettled me. I was getting to a point where I thought I knew something, and then this case on a relatively common coin comes up and I had no idea about this variety. Then I was flipping through Krause and seeing all of the rare varieties I simply have no idea of. I realize I spread myself too thin, collecting Chinese, ancients, US, world, etc, but it is just unsettling to be struck in the face on how little you know, (or how much more there still is to learn, take your pick). Chris
ah man, as I was reading through the thread I hoped you scored the coin you have been looking for. My eye sight is the the sharpest so I thought you had it from the get go. Well enjoy the hunt. Sure you get that four plume franc and then really cherish it.
Hey thanks for all the help guys, I`ve not been around for a few days. I think it can be safely said its a 3 then, LOL I will find one someday.
