France 1889-A 50 francs

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Jean Elsen sale 160, lot 1993
JE160-1993r.jpg

This specimen was lot 1993 in Jean Elsen sale 160 (Brussels, November 2024), where it sold for €8,000 (about US$10,128 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"FRANCE, Troisième République (1871-1940), AV 50 francs, 1889 A, Paris. Extrêmement rare. Seulement 100 p. frappées à 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 fifty 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. 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: 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.549/3, KM 831, Gad-1113; Mazard 1797; Fr-591.

Source:

  • 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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