France 1968 1/2 franc
The first specimen was lot 22590 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Las Vegas, August 2020), where it sold for $192. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Silver 1/2 Franc Piefort, 1968. NGC PROOF-67. A RARE and nearly flawless piefort, bright and untoned." This specimen is a common date of a type struck for France at the Paris mint 1964-2001. Some of the later dates after 1978 are only available from FDC sets. The original Roty design, called La Semeuse, appeared on half, one and two francs of 1898-1920. The piedforts were strictly for sale to collectors.
Recorded mintage: 57,551,000 plus 500 nickel piedforts plus 50 silver piedforts (shown here) plus 20 gold piedforts.
Specification: 4.5 g, nickel, 19.5 mm diameter, after a design by Oscar Roty (1846-1911).
Catalog reference: regular issue: F.198/7, KM 931.1. piedfort: KM-P399, struck in silver.
- 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 August 2020 ANA Auction: World Coins, featuring the Duke of Lansing Collection, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
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