From Napoleonic Strasbourg to King Farouk of Egypt: a coin and its history

Hello everyone! Today I'd like to present one of the latest additions to my collection - a very special coin, not least because it was once in the collection of a king!

FIRST FRENCH EMPIRE
Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor (1804-1814, 1815)
CU 5 Centimes (29.1mm, 6.74g, 12h)
Dated 1808. Strasbourg mint, France
Obverse: Large N within wreath struck incuse on raised rims
Reverse: 5 CENT. in two lines, mintmarks and engraver’s signature below; NAPOLEON EMPEREUR and date struck incuse on raised rims
References: Numista 8023
Mintage: 108,000
Formerly in PCGS encapsulation, graded UNC Details.
From the Richard Margolis Collection. Ex Sotheby’s March 1954, lot 2181 (part.) From the Palace Collection of King Farouk of Egypt (1936-1952).​

But before we get to provenance, let's take a brief look at the history of the coin itself.

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Strasbourg

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Nero Claudius Drusus was the founder of the settlement that would eventually become Strasbourg. That was back in 12 BC, when the Roman legions were still pushing the frontiers of the empire through Gaul and into the lands of the Germanic tribes. They called the settlement Argentoratum. At some point between then and the 9th century, the town became known as Strazburg; Charles and Louis, the grandsons of Charlemagne, signed a pact, known as the Oaths of Strasbourg, there in February of 842 in opposition to their brother Lothair.

The Oaths of Strasbourg
By Renardeau.arctique - https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84238417/f29.item.zoom, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=143499364
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Strasbourg continued to grow and thrive through the Middle Ages. Situated on the border between France and Germany, it became in a sense an “international” city, developing a blend of Frankish and Germanic culture. In 1439 the great Strasbourg Cathedral was completed. Construction had begun in 1015 and continued sporadically through the following centuries. With a dome height of 190 feet and a spire height of 466 feet, it remains one of the greatest architectural marvels of the Middle Ages.

Woodcut of Strasbourg from the Nuremberg Chronicle showing the newly completed Cathedral, circa 1493
By Michel Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (Text: Hartmann Schedel) - Self-scanned, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=882156
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Strasbourg was the home of Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the movable-type printing press. Gutenberg seems to have developed and completed his ideas for printing in Strasbourg, but moved to Mainz, Germany, for the actual printing. His famous Gutenberg Bible was printed around 1454; this event marked one of the great pivotal moments in the history of Western civilization.

Illustration of a printing press and a composing stick from the first edition (1768–71) of the Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 3, plate CXLVII, figure 1. https://www.britannica.com/technology/printing-press​

During the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s Strasbourg supported Luther and the other Reformers, including John Calvin, who moved to Strasbourg and ministered there after his expulsion from Geneva in 1537.

In 1681, King Louis XIV of France annexed the city of Strasbourg, sparking off a new round of conflicts in Europe between France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire. France fought its enemies to a stalemate, retaining its expanded territories including Strasbourg.

The Capture of Strasbourg
By Unknown author - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47075507
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Fast forward to the French Revolution. No corner of the French world was unaffected by the tumult and bloody chaos of Revolution, and Strasbourg was no exception. Church property was confiscated, the city’s mayor guillotined, religious worship suppressed, and churches and monasteries were destroyed. It was not until Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in 1799 that Strasbourg began to recover. Napoleon visited the city multiple times during his reign and helped rebuild its economy and infrastructure, and Strasbourg once more thrived.

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Provenance: Richard Margolis Collection

Richard Margolis (1931-2018) was a numismatist, author, and dealer who specialized in coins and medals of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. He published more than 30 articles on the subject, and amassed a collection of some 3,000 coins, essays, and private tokens from this era. According to Coin Weekly, “There was no getting around Richard Margolis if you collected French coins in the United States.”

Richard Margolis
(https://coinsweekly.com/richard-margolis-1931-2018/)​

Margolis is also noted for having published a seminal work on the portrait medallions of Jean-Baptiste Nini, titled Benjamin Franklin in Terra Cotta: Portrait Medallions by Jean-Baptiste Nini at the Chateau of Chaumont.

Richard and his wife were founders and organizers (running it for the next 15 years) of the New York International Numismatic Convention, or NYINC, which subsequently became “the United States’ largest and most prestigious numismatic event targeting the needs of the foreign and ancient numismatic communities.”

After Richard’s passing, the American auction firm Stack’s Bowers presented for sale Part 1 of the Richard Margolis Collection in March of 2024, which highlighted many exceedingly rare and valuable historical American medals. Since then, Stack’s has conducted seven more auctions featuring world coins and medals from the Margolis Collection.

The Palace Collection of King Farouk of Egypt

King Farouk (born 1920, died 1965; reigned as King of Egypt and the Sudan 1936-1952)
By https://www.pinterest.com/pin/316026098829010795/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47715717​

Farouk I, King of Egypt and the Sudan, seems to have had a lot in common with the emperor Nero: both were young rulers, ascending to the throne at age 16; both inherited fabulous wealth; both eschewed real governance in favor of self-indulgence and frivolity; both were initially extremely popular but became markedly less so as time went on; and both had their reigns end in coups. In fact, according to Wikipedia, “Public discontent against Farouk rose to new levels, to the extent that the 1951 film Quo Vadis was banned in Egypt out of the fear the audiences would identify the fat Emperor Nero played by Peter Ustinov with Farouk.”

King Farouk was tall and handsome. Early in his reign, Life magazine called him “the very model of a young Muslim gentleman.” He was wildly popular with the public. But the Egyptian crown enjoyed enormous wealth at this time, it soon became apparent that Farouk viewed his kingship more as an opportunity for extravagant and luxurious self-indulgence, rather than public service.

The British in Egypt found it difficult to respect this profligate and frivolous youngster. In a 1942 meeting with Winston Churchill, Farouk actually practiced the pickpocket skills he had learned from a pardoned thief to steal Churchill’s watch. Farouk later returned it, claiming it had been intended as a joke, but Churchill was not amused. Farouk, for his part, disliked and resented the attitude of condescension and disapproval he felt from the British.

King Farouk meeting with Winston Churchill in Cairo, 1942
By Not credited - https://museumfacts.co.uk/king-farouk-i/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=138664344
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King Farouk was an inveterate collector. Wikipedia, citing William Stadiem’s book Too Rich: The High Life and Tragic Death of King Farouk, lists “diamonds, dogs, stamps, rubies, Fabergé eggs, ancient Tibetan coins, medieval suits of armour, aspirin bottles, razor blades, paper clips and Geiger counters” among the items he collected, in addition to the “2,000 silk shirts, 10,000 silk ties, 50 diamond-studded golden walking sticks and one autographed portrait of Adolf Hitler” which were found at one of his palaces. He also collected cars, airplanes, and antiquities.

But King Farouk seems to have taken special pride in his coin collection. And it was a collection worthy of a king – truly awe-inspiring in both quality and quantity, and universally recognized as one of the greatest coin collections ever assembled. The collection totaled more than 8,500 world and US coins and included many of the rarest and most valuable coins in the world. After his overthrow in 1952, the Egyptian government moved to liquidate the collection, and it was sold through the London auction firm Sotheby’s in 1954.

Among the thousands of coins sold were:

• The only privately owned 1933 gold double Eagle (which became, in 2021, the most expensive coin ever sold at $18.9 million)

• A 1913 Liberty V Nickel (one of five known to exist, with only two in private hands.) Sold for $3.73 million in 2010.

• One of two (and the only privately owned) 1821 gold Capped Head Left Half Eagles (hammered for $3,850,000 in 2022)

• One of two known 1861 $20 Paquet Double Eagles (hammered for $6,000,000 in 2021)

• An extremely rare Australian “Adelaide Assay Office” gold ingot (hammered for $450,000 in 2023)

• An extremely rare 1895 gold off-strike British Trade Dollar (hammered for $230,000 in 2015)

• One of perhaps twenty Central American Republic 1824 gold 8 escudos (hammered for $150,000 in 2014)

Jeff Garrett, one of the best-known and accomplished numismatists in America, former president of the ANA, consultant of the Smithsonian and other museums, and senior editor of the US coins “Redbook”, adds, “Dozens of coins listed in my 100 Greatest U.S. Coins book are represented in the sale, some of which are unique.” Garrett goes on: “Suffice it to say the 1954 Palace Collection sale was one of the greatest buying opportunities in history.”

Farouk continued to live in exile after his deposition, still wealthy though most of his possessions had been left behind and confiscated. He died in Rome in 1965, at the age of 45.

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Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment and/or post your own coins related to Strasbourg, Richard Margolis, King Farouk, or anything else relevant!

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