France 1866-BB 2 francs
The first specimen was lot 1191 in Jean Elsen sale 124 (Brussels, March 2015), where it sold for €105 (about US$131 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[2] noted,
"FRANCE, Napoléon III (1852-1870), AR 2 francs, 1866 BB, Strasbourg. Superbe. (France, Napoleon III (1852-70), silver two francs of 1866, Strasbourg mint, extremely fine.)"
This specimen is a common date of a series struck 1866-70 during the régime of Napoleon III. All 26 million were struck at the Paris (mintmark "A"), Bordeaux (mintmark "K") and Strasbourg (mintmark "BB") mints. Some of the 11 available dates are scarce, none are rare. 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 After the collapse of Napoleon's empire during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, it was superseded by the "Cérès head" type of 1870-95. It was officially withdrawn from circulation in 1928 and demonetized in 2005 but ceased to circulate after World War One.
Specification: 10 g, 0.835 fine silver, .289 troy oz AGW, 27 mm diameter, reeded edge, designed by Albert Désiré Barré (1818-1878).
Recorded mintage: 3,089,824[1], a common date.
Catalog reference: KM 807.2, F.263/2, Gad-527.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies. Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
- [2]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 124, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2015.
Links to:
- 1866-A 2 francs
- 1866-A 20 centimes
- 1866-A 50 centimes
- 1866-BB 50 centimes
- 1866-A franc
- 1866-K 2 francs
- 1866-A gold 5 francs
- 1866-BB gold 5 francs
- 1866-BB 10 francs "laureate head"
- 1866-BB 20 francs
- 1866-A 50 francs
- 1866-BB 50 francs
- 1866-A 100 francs
- 1866-BB 100 francs
- 1867-A 2 francs
- 1867-BB 2 francs
- Coins and currency dated 1866
- return to Decimal coinage of France (1795-2001)