France L'AN7-W decime

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Jean Elsen sale 157, lot 1004

This specimen was lot 1004 in Jean Elsen sale 157 (Brussels, December 2023), where it sold for €75 (about US$97 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"FRANCE, Directoire (1795-1799), Cu 1 décime, an 7 W, Lille. Très Beau. (France, Directory, copper décime of the year 7, Lille mint. Very Fine.)"

The numismatics of the bronze coinage of the First Republic 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 7, this type was struck at Paris ("A"), Metz ("AA"), Strasbourg ("BB"), Lyon ("D"), Geneva ("G"), Limoges ("I"), Bordeaux ("K") and Lille ("W", shown here). Paris produced the majority. A 7/4 overdate and a W/A repunched mintmark are reported.

Recorded mintage: 4,761,093.

Specification: 20 g, bronze, 32 mm diameter, "chevronned" edge, designed by Augustin Dupré (1748-1833).

Catalog reference: F.129/24, KM 644.11, Gad-187.

Source:

  • Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
  • [2]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
  • Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
  • [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 157, Collection J.-C. Martiny, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.

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