France 1854-A franc

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This issue, from the Paris mint, is an early date of a type struck 1853-63 during the régime of Napoleon III of France. This "tête nue" design, by J. J. Barre, was replaced in 1864 by the "tête laurée" type, which was of lower fineness. It was demonetized in 1869. A complete set of this type comprises 17 date and mintmark combinations. The entire production run, 1853-63, totaled about 25.9 million pieces. This date is priced about 25% higher than the commonest dates (1858-A and 1859-A).

Specification: 23 mm diameter, 5 grams, 0.900 fine silver, reeded edge. Designed by Jean-Jacques Barre, 1793-1855.

Mintage: 763,557^[1], 764,000^[2].

Catalog reference: F.214/2, KM 779.1.

Source:

• ^[1]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies. Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
• Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
• ^[2]Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.

Link to:

• 1853-A franc
• 1854-A centime
• 1854-BB 2 centimes
• 1854-D 2 centimes
• 1854-MA 2 centimes
• 1854-W 2 centimes
• 1854-A 5 centimes
• 1854-BB 5 centimes
• 1854-A 10 centimes
• 1854 10 centimes, erection of a monument at the Bourse at Lille
• 1854-BB 5 centimes
• France 1854-A 10 centimes KM-M26 mint visit
• 1854-W 10 centimes
• 1854-A 20 centimes
• 1854-A 50 centimes
• 1854-A 2 francs
• 1854-A silver 5 francs
• 1854-A 5 francs d'or
• 1854-A 10 francs
• 1854-A 20 francs
• 1855-A franc
• Coins and currency dated 1854