France L'AN4-T 5 centimes
This specimen was lot 43268 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Oklahoma City, OK, August 2025), where it sold for $16,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Directory. Copper 5 Centimes, Year 4-T (1795/6). Nantes Mint. PCGS MS-65 Brown. An EXCEEDINGLY RARE type, this stunning specimen pairs undisputed RARITY along with a highly attractive Gem nature. About this example, Margolis writes that "...only one other listing has been noted: in van Peteghem's May 4-5, 1877 Paris auction sale, lot 358 (ex Dupré collection). This provenance suggests that a few examples of the Nantes 5 centimes of the year 4 were struck, not in Nantes, but in Paris by Dupré." A fascinating piece that is assuredly worthy of more research regarding its true venue of striking. From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Albuquerque in 1993 for $944). Ex: Cabinet Numismatique Albuquerque (3/1993) Lot # 300." The numismatics of the bronze coinage of the First Republic of France is complex. For the five centimes, the first issue (An 4-5) was 5 g, 23 mm diameter and was immediately rejected by the populace along with the 10 g décime (10 centimes) and the 20 g double décime (20 centimes). During An 5, the government tried again with larger coins, increasing the 5 centimes to 10 g and the décime to 20 g and abandoning the double décime. The revised types met with some success and they were issued in substantial numbers until An 9. Leftover stocks of light weight décimes were overstruck into five centimes and double décimes converted into décimes. In all, about 114 million were produced for the type. They circulated until the 1850's and today few are found in Very Fine or better. During An 4, this type was struck at Paris ("A"), Limoges ("I"), Bayonne ("L"), Nantes ("T", shown here) and Lille ("W"). Paris produced 88.5%; the others are all rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown but very rare.
Specification: 5 g, copper, 23 mm diameter, reeded edge.
Catalog reference: KM-635.3; Gad-124; F.113/4.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
- Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Richard August Collection and the Richard Margolis Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
Link to:
- L'AN 4-A 5 centimes
- L'AN 4-W 5 centimes
- L'AN 4-A décime (small module)
- AN 4-A décime (counterstamped)
- AN 4-D décime
- AN 4-K décime
- L'AN 4-A 2 décimes
- L'AN 4-A 5 francs
- France L'AN 5 centime pattern
- L'AN 5-A large 5 centimes
- L'AN 5-BB large 5 centimes, restruck over un décime
- L'AN 5-I small 5 centimes
- L'AN 5-I large 5 centimes
- L'AN 5-R large 5 centimes
- L'AN 5-W large 5 centimes
- Coins and currency dated 1795