France 1865-BB 20 francs
This specimen was lot 1760 in Goldberg sale 112 (Los Angeles, September 2019), where it sold for $432. The catalog description[1] noted, "France. 20 Francs, 1865-BB. Napoleon III. Laureate head. NGC graded MS-64." This specimen is a slightly better date of a series struck 1861-70 during the régime of Napoleon III. All 85 million were struck at the Paris (mintmark "A") and Strasbourg (mintmark "BB") mints. All dates are readily available altho gems are scarce. This type is commonly called the "Laureate head." After the collapse of Napoleon's empire during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, it was superseded by the "Génie" type of 1871-98. It was officially withdrawn from circulation in 1928 and demonetized in 2005 but ceased to circulate after World War One.
Recorded mintage: 3,088,000.
Specification: 6.45 g, 0.900 fine gold, 21 mm diameter, edge lettered DIEU PROTEGE LA FRANCE, designed by Jacques-Jean Barré.
Catalog reference: Fr-585; KM 801.2; Gadoury 1062, F.532/12.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [2]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
- [1]Goldberg, Ira, Larry Goldberg, John Lavender, Yifu Che, Jason Villareal and Stephen Harvey, Goldberg Sale 112: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2019.
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