France 1948-B 5 francs
This specimen was lot 71472 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, October 2020), where it sold for $110. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 5 Francs, 1948-B. Beaumont-le-Roger Mint. PCGS MS-62 Gold Shield. Variety with Open 9 in date. A fully struck example with few marks for the assigned grade." This specimen is a scarce date of a type struck at the Beaumont-le-Roger mint 1945-50 under the Fourth Republic (1946-59). The inflation triggered by the devastation wreaked by World War Two continued thru the 1950's, forcing the regime to strike coins in ever higher denominations. This type was not demonetized until 1966, by which time it was worthless. Even so, 463 metric tons of aluminum were consumed making this coin in 1948. This date comes with open "9's" (common) and closed "9's" (rare) in the date.
Recorded mintage: 28,046,800 (open 9 and closed 9).
Specification: 3.5 g, aluminum, 31 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-888b.2; Gad-766a; F.339/15.
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The October 2020 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
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