France 1808-L 2 francs

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This type was struck 1808 only during the reign of Napoleon I from numerous mints. The specimen shown is from Bayonne and is a very rare date, with three reported to exist. It is priced^[1] about eight times the commonest date (1811A) even in Good. Many issues of this type are known from a handful (<10) of examples. The type is rather scarce, being struck the one year only; in 1809, the reverse legend was changed from "REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE" to "EMPIRE FRANCAISE." All two francs issued prior to 1859, including this one, were demonetized in 1869 to make way for the succeeding issue which was only 0.835 fine.

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

Recorded mintage: 18,630^[1].

Catalog reference: F.254/8, KM 693.2.

Source:

Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
^[1]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.

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France 1808-L 2 francs

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