France 1889-A 100 francs
This specimen was lot 1992 in Jean Elsen sale 160 (Brussels, November 2024), where it sold for €54,000 (about US$68,364 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, Troisième République (1871-1940), AV 100 francs, 1889 A, Paris. Extrêmement rare. Seulement 100 p. frappées à l'occasion de l'Exposition universelle de Paris. Légèrement nettoyé. Griffes à g. du faisceau. Petits coups. Flan poli. Pour marquer les célébrations du centième anniversaire de la Révolution française, le décret ministériel du 25 mai 1889 autorisa l'installation d'une presse monétaire sur le site de l'Exposition universelle de Paris pour y frapper devant les visiteurs cent séries de pièces de 100 francs, 50 francs, 20 francs, 10 francs et 5 francs or ainsi que les divisionnaires en argent et en cuivre. (France, Third Republic, 1871-1940. gold hundred francs of 1889, Paris mint. Extremely rare, only 100 pieces struck in proof. To mark the celebrations of the centennial of the French Revolution, a decree of May 25, 1889, authorized the installation of a coin press at the Paris Exposition to strike for visitors one hundred sets including the 100 francs, 50 francs, 20 francs and five francs in gold and the silver and copper minors.)"
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. In 1907, the edge lettering was changed to read LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE. The mintage of all gold coinage was suspended in 1914. Of the three types of large gold 100 francs, 346,000 were struck of Napoleon III "bare head," 97,000 were struck of Napoleon III "laureate head," and 274,000 were struck of the "génie." This issue, together with 1887, 1894 and 1895, is very rare.
Recorded mintage: 100 proofs[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.552/9, KM 832, Gad-1137; Mazard 1776; Fr-590.
- 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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