France 1807-L 2 francs

Stack's Bowers September 2025 Collectors Choice sale, lot 71345

This specimen was lot 71345 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $168. The catalog description^[1] noted, "FRANCE. Empire. 2 Francs, 1807-L. Bayonne Mint. Napoleon I. PCGS VF-30. A wholesome survivor, this specimen presents some goldenrod notes sprinkled throughout. From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Émile Bourgey in Paris on 12 October 1978 for $104)." This type was struck 1806-07 with sixteen different date-mintmark combinations, of which the 1806-A is the only one at all common and the 1806-L and 1807-I slightly scarce. In 1806 the French revolutionary calendar was dropped and normal AD dating resumed. An 1807/6 overdate is reported. The Paris mint adopted a curly haired bust of Napoleon in 1807 which was contemptuously rejected by the Emperor and replaced by the laureate head, which the Toulouse mint did not adopt until 1808.

Recorded mintage: 54,029^[2], a somewhat scarce date.

Specification: 10 grams, 0.900 fine silver, 27 mm diameter, lettered edge. Designed by Pierre Joseph Tiolier, 1763-1819.

Catalog reference: F.252/13, KM-658.9; Gad-496.

Sources:

Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
^[2]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
^[1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, September 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, including Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection and Selections from the L.E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.

Link to:

France 1807-L 2 francs

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