Several years ago I saw the 1987 film "Black Widow" which was about two women, Debra Winger as an FBI analyst and Theresa Russell as a woman who marries men for their money and then kills them. Debra begins following Theresa hoping to catch her. Theresa is working on her next target, a wealthy Seattle man who collects coins. She has gotten some coin catalogs from libraries and book stores and is reading them. Coin catalog page showing ancient coins The page is Plate 28 of Carthaginian Gold and Electrum Coins by G.K. Jenkins and R.B. Lewis, published in 1963 by the Royal Numismatic Society of Great Britain. Theresa meets the Seattle man and when he shows her a coin from his coin collection: Seattle man's coin magnified Theresa tells him that "That's Felice Baciocchi and his sister Elisa." The coin is a silver 5 Franchi (francs) crown of the Italian Principality of Lucca and Piombino. Napoleon Bonaparte gave the provinces of Lucca and Piombino to his sister Elisa and her husband Felice Baciocchi in 1805 and the couple held them from 1805 to 1814. These coins were minted from 1805 to 1808. Well, I had to have one and now I do: Italy Lucca and Piombino 5 Franchi 1805 Silver, 37.0 mm, 24.83 gm, minted at Florence Obverse: Busts of Felice Baciocchi and Elisa Bonaparte FELICE ED ELISA PP DI LUCCA E PIOMBINO (Felice and Elisa Prince and Princess of Lucca and Piombino) Reverse: PRINCIPATO DI LUCCA E PIOMBINO 1805 (Principality of Lucca and Piombino)
How do you know it's a 5 Franci from the obverse only? Is it mentioned in the film? I have a 1 franco:
The coin in the film is the 5 franchi coin. Look at the film coin obverse denticles, the gap at the bottom between "PIOMBINO" and "FELICE", and the size of the fingers next to the coin.
I agree, I managed to work it out a while after I posted. Numista shows three different obverses for the 5 Franci, and the one in the film is the middle one.