France 1866-BB 10 francs

from the Stack's Bowers 2018 NYINC sale, lot 20250

This specimen was lot 20250 in Stack's Bowers 2018 NYINC sale (New York, January 2018), where it did not sell. The catalog description^[1] noted, "FRANCE. 10 Francs, 1866-BB. Strasbourg Mint. PCGS MS-66. An exceptional example. Sharply struck with attractive tone and strong underlying luster." This specimen is a slightly better date of a series struck 1862-68 during the régime of Napoleon III. All 31 million were struck at the Paris (mintmark "A") and Strasbourg (mintmark "BB") mints. Most 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 After the collapse of Napoleon's empire during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, it was superseded by the "Cérès head" type of 1895-99. It was officially withdrawn from circulation in France in 1928 and demonetized in 2005 but ceased to circulate after World War One.

Recorded mintage: 2,849,356^[2] (a common date).

Specification: 3.22 g, 0.900 fine gold, 19 mm diameter, reeded edge, designed by Albert Désiré Barré (1818-1878).

Catalog reference: Fr-587; KM-800.2; Gad-1015, F.507A/13.

Sources:

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.
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]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio, John Kraljevich and Cris Chatigny, The January 2018 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Eldorado Collection of Colombian and Ecuadorian Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2017.

Link to:

France 1866-BB 10 francs

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