Alright, so I read as few books on Napoleon Bonaparte and got excited about the man. And now I'm itching for a lifetime portrait coin of the emperor...but don't know what all is out there. On a shoestring (more like Velcro) budget what are you Napoleon fans favorite portrait coins/medals of the man? What Napoleon coins set themselves apart from the pack? Any pics would help and be appreciated as I would love to see what all of your favorites are!
Well, there's certainly a lot of Napoleon Bonaparte coins and medals out there. It has been some years since I've owned any, but here are two I got cheaply because of the holes. These were of course a part of my old "Holey Coin Vest" collection. France 5 francs, 1810-A (nice big crown-sized coin) Napoleonic Italy 10 soldi, 1812 I'm sure somebody else has some that aren't holed! Thanks for reminding me that I need to add another Bonaparte to my collection. I'll put him on my "Eclectic Box to do list" along with Elizabeth I!
(After briefly browsing VCoins) Wow, Napoleon I coins sure have gotten more expensive in the last decade or so since I owned one! Here's one tip for you: when keyword searching, be sure you either put "Bonaparte" or a date (1801, 1802, etc) in addition to "Napoleon", or you'll be wading through dozens if not hundreds of later coins of Napoleon III.
A lordM says, there are lots of coins of Napoleon to chose from. For me, the most interesting, (and quite a bit scarcer, generally) are the ones struck for members of his family: after he had conquered most of Europe, Napoleon appointed various members of his family to rule of his various conquered possessions. He gave his brother Jerome the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1808, a German province with its capital in Kassel. There, Jerome ruled happily, squandering away the provinces riches in his lavish life style. He was known as the 'party king'. Coinage was struck for him at the Paris mint, denominated not in Francs, but in Franken. Jerome got kicked out of Westphalia when his brother was defeated at Waterloo in 1815. He returned to Paris in exile and lived a long and merry life there until old age. This is a 5 Franken piece struck for Jerome for use in Westphalia, dated 1809. These circulated extensively and are quite scarce today.
Here are the two I have. On the 20 francs Napoleon is still a Consul, on the 40 francs he's already an Emperor. The third one (silver 50 cents) is the only coin my son has decided to keep when he quit collecting Q
I was blown away by this one that went unsold in a recent auction. Sadly, when I tried to purchase it in the unsold sale somebody had beat me to it! (Love the hermes reverse)