France 1887-A 50 francs
This specimen was lot 1990 in Jean Elsen sale 160 (Brussels, November 2024), where it sold for €4,800 (about US$6,077 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, Troisième République (1871-1940), AV 50 francs, 1887 A, Paris. Seulement 301 p. frappées. Très rare. Petits coups. Exemplaire attrayant, avec brillant de frappe. Superbe à Fleur de Coin. (France, Third Republic, 1871-1940. gold fifty francs of 1887, Paris mint, only 301 pieces struck. Very rare, minor nicks, attratvie example with mint luster, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
Napoleon III was overthrown in 1870 after being goaded into and losing the Franco-Prussian War. After a siege and a civil war fought in Paris, the Third Republic settled down to a bourgeois existence. The gold twenty francs with the revived Génie design was first struck in 1871; the fifty and hundred francs were added in 1878. The fifty francs must have seemed superfluous as only 26,945 were struck over six dates 1878-1904 and today it is the rarest type of the Republic.
Recorded mintage: 301[2].
Specification: 16.13 g, 0.900 fine gold, 28 mm diameter, lettered edge, designed by Albert Desiré Barré after a design by Augustin Dupré.
Catalog reference: F.549/2, KM 831, Gad-1113; Fr-591.
- 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.
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 160, Collection de deniers liegeois et Collection de monnaies d'or francaises, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
- [2]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies. Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
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