France 1869-BB 2 francs
This specimen is a slightly better date of a series struck 1866-70 during the régime of Napoleon III. The green tinge is staining from PVC. 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. The SCWC lists this as a rare date; Le Franc[1] disagrees, giving it only a 56% premium over the commn date (1868-A). 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 After the collapse of Napoleon's empire during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, it was superseded by the "Cérès head" type of 1870-95. It was officially withdrawn from circulation in 1928 and demonetized in 2005 but ceased to circulate in France after World War One.
Recorded mintage: 1,368,080[1], 367,000[2].
Specification: 10 g, 0.835 fine silver, .289 troy oz AGW, 27 mm diameter, reeded edge, designed by Albert Désiré Barré (1818-1878).
Catalog reference: F.263/10, KM 807.2.
- [2]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.
- [1]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
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