Estimate: 50.000 EURBaltic States.
Livonian Order. Gotthard Kettler, 1559-1561.
2 1/2 Ducats n. d., mint probably Riga.
Extremely rare.
Almost extremely fine.
2
Estimate: 15.000 EUREngland.
Elizabeth I, 1558-1603.
Sovereign n. d., (1584-1586), London.
Very rare. Slightly bent, almost extremely fine.
117
Estimate: 4.000 EUREgypt.
Mustafa III, 1757-1774.
2 Zeri Mahbub 1757/1758 (= 1171 AH), Misr (Kairo)
Ziynet pattern. Very rare.
Holed, almost extremely fine.
368
Estimate: 6.000 EURColumbia.
Carlos III, 1759-1788.
8 Escudos 1764, NR-JV,
Santa Fe de Nuevo Reino (Bogota).
NGC AU58. Rare. Extremely fine.
409
Estimate: 50.000 EURGerman States. City of Hamburg.
Bankportugalöser in the weight of 10 Ducats 1689,
by J. Reteke, on the major European banking cities
of Amsterdam, Hamburg, Nuremberg, and Venice.
NGC MS63 PL. Very rare.
Extremely fine-uncirculated.
643
Estimate: 7.500 EURAustralia. George V, 1910-1936.
Penny 1919.
Copper-nickel pattern of the “Kookaburra Penny”
by C. D. Richardson for Stokes & Sons.
Extremely rare. PCGS SP 61.
Tiny edge faults, extremely fine.
1224
Estimate: 10.000 EURKompanie van Verre, 1594-1602.
Vereenigde Amsterdamsche Compagnie.
1/2 Daalder in the weight of 4 Reales 1601, Dordrecht.
Extremely rare.
Fine patina, very fine-extremely fine.
2501
Estimate: 30.000 EURKingdom of the Netherlands.
5 Gulden type 1846.
Highest rarity (RRRR).
PMG Choice Very Fine 35.
3054
Estimate: 30.000 EURKingdom of the Netherlands.
1000 Gulden type 1860.
Highest rarity (RRRR).
PMG Extremely Fine 40.
Pinholes. Pressed.
3312
Estimate: 15.000 EURArchbishopric of Salzburg.
Leonhard von Keutschach, 1495-1519.
3 Ducats 1513.
Extremely rare.
Attractive piece with nice golden toning,
min. bent, extremely fine.
4001
Archive: Coins, Medals and more

French History in Coins – Part 1: Kings, Consuls and Emperors

written by Aila de la Rive, by courtesy of the MoneyMuseum, translated by Maike Meßmann

“Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, writer and philosopher, *1712, †1778

Throughout the 18th century, France was profoundly shaped by the ideas of the Enlightenment, until the French Revolution heralded a new age in 1792. This fascinating period is reflected in a remarkable way by its means of payment. We will start the first part of our journey through French history by taking a look at the coins and banknotes issued in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Content

Jean Duplessis-Bertaux, The Storming of the Tuleries on 10 August 1792, 1793.

Jean Duplessis-Bertaux, The Storming of the Tuleries on 10 August 1792, 1793.

From Revolution to Restoration

22 September 1792, the first day of year 1 according to the Revolutionary Calendar, marked the beginning of the modern era for France: France is a republic!

More than three years had passed since a hungry crowd stormed the Bastille in Paris on 14 July 1789 chanting “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, overpowering the guards and freeing the prisoners. Now the king had been deposed; many nobles left the country – and they took large sums of cash with them: France is close to bankruptcy.

The First Republic was rather short-lived. In 1799, a young general seized power of battered France. Napoleon Bonaparte (1799–1815) deposed the weak government – the so-called Directory – and installed himself as First Consul at the head of the state. Five years later, he crowned himself Emperor of the French. In this way, the small Corsican followed in Charlemagne’s footsteps: his goal was to revive the Holy Roman Empire – this time under French rule.

It goes without saying that the rest of Europe was not enthusiastic about these plans of making France a super power. Prussia, England, Russia, Sweden and Austria joined forces in an alliance; in March 1814, they took control of Paris. For the time being, this put an end to France’s political experiments: the Bourbon monarchs were restored to the throne – with Louis XVIII (1815–1824), a brother of the king that had been executed after the Revolution, assuming power.

But the country was to be shaken by a revolution once again in 1848.

Kingdom of France. Assignat of 500 livres 1790, paper, Assemblée Nationale and Louis XVI. Photo: Public domain.

Kingdom of France. Assignat of 500 livres 1790, paper, Assemblée Nationale and Louis XVI. Photo: Public domain.

The Money of the First Republic

After the Revolution, the French monetary system collapsed, a monetary reform was inevitable. French gold and silver coins had disappeared to foreign countries or under the mattresses of the population; there was hardly any money left in circulation. To prevent the country from going bankrupt, the government created so-called assignats in 1789. The issuance of these paper banknotes plunged France into an inflation of an extent that had never been felt in Europe before. It was not until early 1796 that an end was put to the issuance of the by then completely valueless assignats.

France, First Republic. Consul. 5 francs year 8 (1799–1800). From Künker auction 190 (2011), lot 3313.

France, First Republic. Consul. 5 francs year 8 (1799–1800). From Künker auction 190 (2011), lot 3313.

In August 1795, the Directory introduced a decimal currency – the silver franc of 100 centimes. The 1-franc piece was set to weigh 5 grams and have a silver content of 90 percent – this means that the new franc was to contain 4.5 grams of silver. However, at first only 5-franc pieces with a weight of 25 grams were minted.

Despite the new Republican coins, monetary circulation was dominated by old royalist coins for decades: the last pre-Revolution silver coins were cancelled in 1834, the copper coins of the kings were only replaced by Napoleon III in 1853.

The design of the depicted 5-franc piece shows the so-called Hercules group with the circumscription “UNION ET FORCE”. The group is dominated by Hercules, scantily clad in a lion’s skin, as the epitome of strength, protecting the female personifications of liberty and equality. Liberty holds a lance with a Phrygian cap on its tip; therefore, she does not only symbolise liberty but also how it was achieved – namely through violence. Equality holds two Freemason symbols in her hand – square and compasses; as Enlightenment thinkers, Freemasons were among the pioneers of liberal ideas. The square stands for righteousness, the compasses for fraternity and service to mankind. This design had originally been created for the 1- and 2-franc pieces, which were not minted after all due to a shortage of metal.

The Hercules group was used time and again as a coin image of the following republics – the Phrygian cap, however, was later replaced by a hand raised as to take an oath, symbolising loyalty to the republic.

France, First Republic. Bonaparte, First Consul. 40 francs year 12 (1803–1804). From Künker auction 350 (29 June 2021), lot 39.

France, First Republic. Bonaparte, First Consul. 40 francs year 12 (1803–1804). From Künker auction 350 (29 June 2021), lot 39.

In April 1803, the First Republic’s “statut monétaire” was enshrined in law by the “loi du 17 germinal an XI” (law of 17 April 1803 according to the Revolutionary Calendar). The franc – in 1803, 1-franc pieces were actually produced for the first time – was defined by the gold-silver ratio: pieces of 20 and 40 francs were created in gold with a weight of 6.45 and 12.9 grams respectively and a gold content of 90 percent. Thus, the ratio of gold to silver was set at 1:15.5, in line with the average value ratio of the two metals at the time.

France, First Republic. Bonaparte, First Consul. 1 franc year 12 (1803–1804). From Heritage Auctions 2014 April CICF Auction (2014), lot 24681.

France, First Republic. Bonaparte, First Consul. 1 franc year 12 (1803–1804). From Heritage Auctions 2014 April CICF Auction (2014), lot 24681.

In France, each and every one is permitted by law to bring gold and silver to a mint and have coins produced from it, only paying a fee for the minting cost. This is one of the achievements of the Republic – in monarchies, minting is considered a privilege of the ruler. Since France finally had a sound monetary system again, gold and silver – which had been hoarded during the years of instability – showed up again and flowed in large quantities into the mints. Therefore, significant numbers of the Franc Germinal, as it was called referring to its date of birth, were produced. Unlike its predecessors of the previous ten years, it no longer depicted the emblems of liberty and the Republic but a classical portrait of the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte.

In the next part, you will find out about the proclamation of the Second French Empire as well as ancient models of French coinage.


17Gaetani, P.A. Museum Mazzuchellianum.
2 Bände.
Full vellum.
Estimate: 2.400 EUR

74Alfen, P. van / Wartenberg, U. / u.v.W. White
Gold Studies in Early Electrum Coinage.
Estimate: 120 EUR

130Calciati, R. Pegasi.
Complete Set aus 2 Bänden.
Estimate: 400 EUR

260Kellner, H.-J.
Die Münzfunde von Manching.
Estimate: 250 EUR

480Visconti, E.Q.
Iconographie ancienne ou
Recueil des portraits authentiques.
3 Bände, complete.
Estimate: 750 EUR

668Friederich, K.
Die Münzen und Medaillen des Hauses Stolberg.
Half leather.
Estimate: 750 EUR

665Friedensburg, F. Schlesiens Münzgeschichte im Mittelalter.
2 Teile und Ergänzungsband.
Half leather.
Estimate: 550 EUR

839Nocq, H. Les Duvivier.
Jean Duvivier, 1687 - 1761
Benjamin Duvier, 1730 - 1819.
Half leather.
Estimate: 400 EUR

1155Hess, A., Frankfurt a.M. Auktion 6
vom 22.09.1880.
Collectio Montenuovo.
Die Siebenbürgischen Münzen und Medaillen des
Fürstlich Montenuovo’schen Münzcabinets. Cloth.
Estimate: 300 EUR

1104Sammelband Christie, Manson & Woods, London.
10 catalogues.
Mostly with a list of results and a list of buyers.
Cloth.
Estimate: 1.000 EUR

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