Howdy all got this 50 francs coin and I'd like to know a little more about it. All i know is its silver and its beautiful!! is it a commemorative? Whats it worth?
Hi, It's not a commem, it was a circulation coin until 1980 A big chunck of silver (30 grams, 900/1000 silver) Because in the late 70' silver became more and more pricey, it was massively hoarded. At the begining, during the sixties, because of the move from the "ancien franc" to the "nouveau franc" (1 nouveau franc being 100 anciens francs), the french government wanted to show how strong and solid the new one was and issued the silver 10 francs coin (25 grams, 900/1000 silver) Soon afterwards, with the increase of silver value, they decided they would also issue a 20 francs with the same characteristics as the 50 francs But during the long process of creation, the silver content went over in price as what the face value would be, and they had to switch to the 50 francs in emergency They are numerous, and although design is very attractive you will most often find them at melt value. As they were hoarded, most of them are in very good condition, and you will hardly find a worn one : from the supply and demand rule, a worn one should be more pricey than a new one Your specimen is beautiful steve Q
