France 1853-K 2 centimes

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Stack's Bowers October 2024 Collector's Choice sale, lot 74723
SB1024-74723r.jpg

This specimen was lot 74723 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2024), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 2 Centimes, 1853-K. Bordeaux Mint. Napoleon III. PCGS MS-66 Red. Impressive Gem quality for the issue with shimmery red surfaces without any patina to mute their brilliance. 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", shown here); the reopened mints were Lille ("W"), Marseilles ("MA"), Rouen ("B") and Lyon ("D"). The two centimes is the scarcest of the bronze denominations of Napoleon III, tho it is not rare. The 1853-K from Lille is a better date. The total production for the series is about 58 million. The coinage of bronze was suspended in 1857 but resumed in 1861 using a different bust, the "tête laurée." Only Paris, Strasbourg and Bordeaux participated in this later issue.

Recorded mintage: 116,625.

Specification: 2 g, bronze, 20 mm diameter, plain edge, designed by Jean-Jacques Barré (1793-1855).

Catalog reference: F.107/6, KM-776.5; Gad-103.

Source:

  • Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
  • Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
  • Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
  • [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, October 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the S.P. Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.

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