Hi, I've got an 1856 French coin, appears bronze or copper, looks about 28-29 mm in diameter. The reverse is nearly completely worn down, so I can't tell the value. Is there enough information to identify it? Thanks for any help, ~neuron
That sounds like a `Dix (10) Centimes'. Presumably it isn't that worn that you can still tell that it's French though (?) and as such maybe there is enough information still left to attribute it to a mint. On the reverse should be an eagle sitting on a branch with wings half open. Immediately under the talons should be a letter. This is the mint mark and determines where it was minted. If you can't see that, you can still determine the mint if the privy marks on the obverse are still there. Either side of the date you can find a small symbol. On 10 c coins, the one to the left is the Engraver General's mark. The one to the right is the Mint Director's privy mark. Each Mint Director had a different mark which therefore attributes the coin to a specific mine at a specific period. Of course you will need to know how to interpret these symbols, and Krause Mischler gives that very information at the start of the French section in it's 1801 -1900 catalogue of world coins. Hope that helps.
Thanks, Ian. I can see Napolean III (the bust, and part of the words) on the obverse, so that's how I identified it as french. The date is also clear, but I can't see anything to the left of it. To the right there is something that appears like a little crown maybe? The reverse is more worn than the obverse, and I can see nothing at all along the rim. I can see faint traces of the eagle in the middle, but that is all. Does that help any more? Thanks, ~neuron
Sadly there is no privy mark for 1856 that fits the bill as you describe. What you think it might be and what it actually is (in its worn down state) are obviously two different things I suspect it might be what the french call a `lampe ancien', that is, an old oil lamp (alladin style), and if so it is from Lille. Lyon mint had a Lion for the privy mark during 1856; Bordeaux had a leaf; Marseille had a scallop shell; Rouen had a cross formed by a pick and hammer; Strasbourg a bee; and Paris a hand popinting to the right. I can't help you furtherwithout seeing the privy mark for myself. Regardless, in that state it's value is only as either a heavy duty fuse, a beer mat for the little people, a conversation piece or whatever else your imagination can conjure up. ;-) Ian
