France 1854-BB 2 centimes
This specimen was lot 74837 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2025), where it sold for $65. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 2 Centimes, 1854-BB. Strasbourg Mint. Napoleon III. PCGS MS-63 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 1854-BB from Bordeaux is a common date. The total production for the series is about 58 million. All the bronze two centime pieces were demonetized in 1940 but by then were worthless. 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: 1,988,420.
Specification: 2 g, bronze, 20 mm diameter, plain edge, designed by Jean-Jacques Barré (1793-1855).
Catalog reference: KM-776.3; Gad-103; F.107/11.
- 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, 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.
Link to:
- 1853-B 2 centimes
- 1853-D 2 centimes
- 1853-K 2 centimes
- 1853-W 2 centimes
- 1854-A centime
- 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-W 10 centimes
- 1854-A 50 centimes
- 1854-A franc
- 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 2 centimes
- 1855-BB 2 centimes
- 1855-D 2 centimes
- 1855-K 2 centimes
- Coins and currency dated 1854