This is a really cool coin. I won this in one of the contests here on CT --- It is KM# 749.4 --- an 1840D (minted in Lyon) 5 Franc coin, .90 silver, and it only has a mintage of about 70,000 which is the lowest of the mintages for the 1832-1840 for the 5 francs. The first four years these were minted, the mint (Lyon) turned out between 1 and 3 million a year. Then the last five years, it was lower, with only two years, the 1837D and the 1840D being less than 100,000. I like this so much I might do a collection of the 9 years these were produced. These were minted in the first half of the July Monarchy, when the last actual King of France ruled - Louis Phillipe I. I don't know much about French history, but as with many coins you get, it can spark an interest, so I will be reading up on it.
I think I'll be happy with my one for now. Some of them may be hard to find as I read somewhere where a whole bunch of these where melted at some time. Good luck with the set.
Do you plan to have it graded? Will you post the results of the poll? As I would like to see if I called it right on the grade. Nice find...
That's a good coin to get, and the condition is decent. Quite rare and valuable as you said Here after is a site with value table for the type, and providing a picture of the best known examples. For the 1840 D, the best known is a TTB48 : http://www.lefranc.net/monnaie,5-francs-iie-type-domard,324.html Good catch Q