France 1863-BB 20 centimes
This specimen was lot 5024 in Künker sale 335 (Osnabrück, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €400 (about US$524 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANKREICH, KÖNIGREICH. Napoléon III, 1852-1870. 20 Centimes 1863, BB, Straßburg. Vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (empire of France, Napoleon III, 1852-70, twenty centimes of 1863, Strasbourg mint. Extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
This type, the smallest silver coin of the decimal system, was struck 1853-63 and then reduced to 0.835 fine in 1864. This is a scarce date, verging on rare.
Recorded mintage: 53,926[2].
Specification: 1 g, 0.900 fine silver, 15 mm diameter, reeded edge, this specimen 1.01 g.
Catalog reference: F.148/18, KM 778.2, Mazard 1555; Gadoury 305.
- 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.
- [2]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies. Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 335: Bracteates from Upper Swabia and the area of the Lake Constance | Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. the Dr. Karl Walter Bach Collection of coins of the Austrian nobility, Special collections of Bavaria, Lubeck, Wurttemberg as well as siege coins from the Eberhard Link Collection. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2020.
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