Have a look here : http://www.lefranc.net/monnaie,10-francs-napol-on-iii-t-te-laur-e,507.html It has probably known better days, should be around bullion value, I guess Q
Did anybody bother to look at the price for that date and mint? About $170 in VF? I don't think it's anywhere near a "bullion" coin. Plus I can't find it in Krause, the "Second Empire" coinage; all the 10 franc coins (KM #784.1 to KM #800.2) are gold, not silver. So I'd either rely on that European catalog, or investigate further.
Of course that's gold. There is no silver 10 francs at that period. If not gold it's fake And 170 USD in VF 45, which this one is not, IMHO, is not far from bullion, I guess Q
The image makes the coin look very much like silver, and there are patterns and essays floating around. I agree the coin is not VF, but then I don't know the French abbreviations for coin conditions, except FDC. Part of the problem was, there's no 1868-A 10 franc listed in Krause 6th Edition; there's 1868-BB, but no Paris mintmark. With 0.0933 Troy ounce of gold, $150 to $170 sounds about right, for the time being. Two years from now, much higher; but that's a different argument.
Krause is probably accurate for most coins around the world but not The Holy Bible, correct ? I'm positive no one in the US would rely more on it than on the Red Book to find the best information, would you ? Same here in the old Europe. We do have books with better accuracy than Krause, Le Franc (and it's electronic version e-Franc) is one of them. 1868 BB (Stasbourg) has 1.430.556 examples and 1868 A (Paris) 3.324.729 examples. Not rare by any means Q
Nobody's talking about rarity now, it's simply a question of bullion value. The coin looks unnatural, but I don't think it's a fake. The first time I saw the image, before I opened the catalog, I thought the coin was silver. The Redbook argument is specious - Krause is the best we have for a general reference, then you get into very expensive specialty books.
A general reference is of no help in such a case. We do not use Krause in France for french coins as it is not accurate. Never. I agree with you on the silver looking of that coin, due to the lightning on the photography. The OP will probably tell us more about that Q
Well here is one from my collection. Here he is sans silly wreath and elevator shoes. :greensmile::greensmile:
That is precisely why I posted. I could not find it in my book from the Paris mint and it does seem uncomfortably silver. I was going to purchase this coin From a member of the forum (I will not mention who) but he became very upset when I posted in the forum and called the deal off. Very awkward. If you had nothing to hide you wouldn't be upset. I apologized to him but I feel like I did nothing wrong. I am not questioning the authenticity. I am just not able to find it in a book.
