France 1853-A 5 centimes

CNG Lissner sale, part of lot 466

from the Stack's Bowers February 2025 Collectors Choice Online Auction, lot 74827

The first specimen was part of lot 466 in Classical Numismatic Group's sale of the Lissner Collection (Chicago, July 2014), where it sold for $786.50. The catalog description^[2] noted, "FRANCE, Empire. Lot of eight (8) CU and AR Denominations. Lot includes the following denominations: ...Second Empire. Napoléon III. 1852-1870. CU 5 Centimes à la tête nue. Paris mint; différents: dog’s head and hand. Jacques-Jean Barre, engraver general. CH.-Louis Dierickx, director. Dated 1853 A. In NGC encapsulation graded MS 65 RB. Gem with lots of red lustrous surfaces...." The second specimen was lot 74827 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2025), where it sold for $85. The catalog description^[3] noted, "FRANCE. 5 Centimes, 1853-A. Paris Mint. Napoleon III. PCGS MS-65 Red Brown. From the Richard Margolis Collection." The regime of Napoleon III finally carried out plans developed during the 1840's to melt down and remint all the old copper circulating in France, some of it dating back to before the Revolution of 1789. Several branch mints were reopened for this purpose. The existing mints were Paris ("A"), Strasbourg ("BB") and Bordeaux ("K"); the reopened mints were Lille ("W"), Marseilles ("MA"), Rouen ("B") and Lyon ("D"). The five centimes is the commonest of the bronze denominations of Napoleon III, tho none are rare.

Specification: bronze, 2 g, 20 mm diameter, plain edge, designed by Jean-Jacques Barré (1793-1855). The first specimen Ø25 mm, 5.05 g, 6h axis.

Recorded Mintage: 14,145,950^[1], a common date but not the commonest.

Catalog reference: F.116/1, Gad-152; KM 777.1.

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.
^[2]Teller, M. Louis, and Victor England, Jr., The Richard Lissner Collection, Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group, 2014.
^[3]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancients, World Coins & World Paper Money, David B. Simpson Medals & World Coins Part 1, Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection, and Selections from the L. E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.

Links to:

France 1853-A 5 centimes

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