France 1808-BB 1/2 franc

Stack's Bowers September 2025 Collectors Choice sale, lot 71421

This specimen was lot 71421 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $408. The catalog description^[1] noted, "FRANCE. Empire. Demi Franc (1/2 Franc), 1808-BB. Strasbourg Mint. Napoleon I. PCGS MS-62. Quite SCARCE when encountered this alluring and enchanting, the present specimen yields immense brilliance remaining along with a pale gray hue. From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from E. Becker in Berlin in June 1966 for $1.25)." This type was struck 1807-08 in France with sixteen different date-mintmark combinations, of which the 1808-A is the most common.

Recorded mintage: 1,595,677^[2], a common date.

Specification: 2.5 g, 0.900 fine silver, 18 mm diameter, plain edge. Designed by Pierre Joseph Tiolier, 1763-1819.

Catalog reference: F.177/4, KM-680.3; Gad-398.

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 1808-BB 1/2 franc

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