Got this recently from a local shop. I'd heard of the "Sedan" satirical carvings mocking Napoleon III's loss to the German Confederation, but this is the first I've seen one with the "Prussian helmet" type carving. I think the "1870" date is just punched in for the year of the battle. The original date is obscured, but the W mint mark (Lille) I believe was minted 1853-1857. I wonder if the coin was carved contemporaneously to the battle, or later. The base coins are quite cheap, so if the carved ones were popular, there may have been a cottage industry carving them even much later. Here's a 2 Francs I got earlier protesting the defeat with punched lettering: And here's an 1807 5 Francs from someone who didn't care for the first Napoleon: Finally here's my only coin issued by Sedan, a double tournois of 1634-38. It's a bit worn, but it was a 25 cent junk bin find from many years ago! Please feel free to post any Napoleon or Sedan related coinage!
Thank you @The Eidolon , that is an interesting coin. The French infantry outgunned the Germans with their Chassepot rifles good to 1200 metres whilst the Germans had the notoriously fickle Dreyse Needle Rifle with a 600 metre range and lower velocity. Unfortunately the French took a not unknown defensive stance so were hammered by the Prussian 6 pounder breech loading Krupp cannons. The French were using muzzle loading bronze cannons. They did have a secret machine gun but it was so secret they didn't teach anyone how to use it !! I rebuilt a Dreyse rifle once and it was a nightmare to renovate and use. I have some friends in the Historical Breech Loading Society who shoot theirs often. I thought I would mention this without going into detail as the coin you have lampooning the French could easily have been used on the other foot had the French been better organised. I have not seen this coin before and it makes a great political statement at a time which was a technological turning point for breech loading firearms in Europe. Thank you for sharing a really interesting collection. My money is on a contemporary production whilst the victory was still in everyone's minds and of course by 1871 we have the Siege of Paris , the Kaiser and the birth of the modern German empire with your coin celebrating the progression to the eventual two world wars.
These Napoleon III satirical coins are neat. Though there were of pieces that were completely die-struck (like those ones with an owl instead of an eagle), I like these hand-engraved ones. I need to read up on the Franco-Prussian War. So many of the seeds of WW1 were sown then. PS- that damnatio on the Napoleon I coin is quite interesting.
Thanks, I thought it was interesting too. I imagine that in an era before free speech, it was a way to quietly express political opinions. After all, no one can afford to throw away money. You just have to pass it along to the next owner without attracting attention as to who might have defaced it. I have a soft spot for damaged coins (holed, counterpunched, ex-mounted, carved etc.) Back when silver was ~$20 an ounce, it was a cheap way to acquire interesting types at often much cheaper prices than for an intact coin. As a bonus, these coins are often in otherwise pretty good condition. Now that silver has gone crazy to $80+ an ounce, it's a lot harder to justify buying any silver coins as an impulse buy for me, even at melt. For example, here's a Prussian 1790 1/3 Thaler that someone decided to carve a letter "M" on for some reason. I can often get defaced coins like these for about melt, and melt was a lot less back then!
Thank you. That’s the kind I referred to. While I prefer the hand-carved ones, those are cool too. I like the owl. “VAMPIRE FRANÇAIS” is funny, too. Poor ol’ Napoleon III, going down in history as a loser. (I haven’t read enough yet to know how much he deserved it.)
The counterstamped "Sedan" coins are very common but I hadn't seen any engraved pieces until now. Thanks for posting them. Bruce
