Napoleon III Empereur (1852-1870) - 50 francs or 1857 A Atelier de Paris (A) NAPOLEON III EMPEREUR, tête nue a droite EMPIRE FRANCAIS, tenture couronnée présentant un aigle, de part et d'autre 50 | FR, a l'exergue A 1857 ancre Tranche inscrite DIEU PROTEGE LA FRANCE 16.13 gr Ref : Le Franc VIII # 547/4 Q
3° republique - 1 franc 1888 A Atelier de Paris (A) . REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE ., tête de Cérès a gauche LIBERTE . EGALITE . FRATERNITE, couronne de lauriers et d'olivier avec au centre 1 FRANC 1888 en trois lignes, a l'exergue A Tranche cannelée 5.00 gr Ref : Le Franc VIII # 216/10 Q
3° republique - 1 franc 1901 REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE, semeuse allant a gauche LIBERTE . EGALITE . FRATERNITE, 1 FRANC en deux lignes, en dessous une branche d'olivier, a l'exergue 1901 Tranche cannelée 5.00 gr Ref : Le Franc VIII # 217/6 Q
I do not post a lot lately, but I had to reply to these posts by Cucumbor - Congratulations, Cucumbor, you do have some beautiful coins! This 'Sol aux Balances' is an rarity in this condition - I know because I have been trying to find one. Your other coins are amazing too. Do you have any 5 Francs type Hercules, or Ecus de 6 Livres de La Convention. For some reason I am very interested on these coins. If you do please post them. We'd love to see them.
Thanks Eduard for the kind words No, I don't have any of these big coins. My purpose with french coins, is to have a selection of 40 nice coins and display them on one tray. The unwritten "rule" is to have more or less coins about the same size (e.g. a 2 francs, or a teston, or a 1/4 d'ecu) in order to have a range of many different types, but with a unity in the visual effect. I use that tray as an introduction to numismatics to people who show some interest. As many of you I guess, in my young age I would be a dead bore, wanting to show off my collection to aeveryone. Now, when people ask, and only on request, I show this tray of french coins. Then wait for questions. If the "slurp ! have you got more ?" comes, I go further. Otherwise I go to the malt whisky reserve and we have a toast to coin collecting... Q
WOW! That's a lot of cleaned coins on the last couple of pages. Is it rare to find uncleaned French coins from this period or in general?
I love the Hercules group, and the following give a nice illustration of the ravages of inflation over 100 years. Here is a Hercules 5 Francs from 1873, 24,94 g Ag 900.
And 100 years later, a Hercules 50 Franc piece, 1976, after a 100-to-1 revaluation, therefore 5000 old Francs. Slightly bigger than the 5 Franc piece, but not so noticeable. 30 g Ag, 40 mm.
Here is a teston of Charles IX, "le mal aimée", the man who brought you the St. Batholomew's Day massacre of Huguenots. This may help explain the apparent defacement.
This is a big aluminum coin from France. I took the photos in 2011 & apparently didn't take a photo of the reverse. I think it is a 5 Franc coin.