France 1884-A 10 centimes
The first specimen was lot 1400 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 21 (Winter Park, FL, May 2017), where it sold for $176.25. The catalog description[1] noted, "France (Paris mint), bronze 10 centimes, 1884-A, encapsulated NGC MS 64 RB, finest known in NGC census. Full original luster and color except for small area of toning on reverse (also a couple carbon spots). NGC #2695882-007." The specimen shown is a ten centimes, Cérès head, of a type struck under the Third Republic of France 1870-98. The majority, including this one, are Paris mint issues but Bordeaux produced this type 1871-78. There are 45 dates in the series, some expensive but only the 1897-A with the fasces privy mark is rare. The 1884-A is a better date compared to the common issues of the 1890's but is not scarce. The total production for the series is about fifty million, compared to 258 million Napoleon III "bare head" ten centimes (1852-57) and 52 million "laureate head" 10 centimes (1861-65). The Cérès head was replaced by the "Marianne" head designed by Daniel-Dupuis (struck 1898-1921). All the bronze ten centimes pieces were demonetized in 1935.
Recorded mintage: 1,060,000.
Specification: 10 g, bronze, 30 mm diameter, plain edge, designed by Eugéne-André Oudiné (1810-1887).
Catalog reference: F.135/28, KM-843.
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
- Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Sedwick, Daniel F., Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction #21, featuring Selections from the Richard Stuart Collection, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC, 2017.
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