French Colonies 1844-A 10 centimes
This specimen was lot 2496 in Steve Album Auction 54 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2026), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRENCH COLONIES: Louis Philippe, 1830-1848, AE 10 centimes, 1844-A, better date, a bit of red, PCGS graded MS63 BN." This type was struck 1839, 1841, 1843-44. The success of this issue was used as a precursor to the large copper issues of Napoleon III in France during the 1850's.
Numista states the first two dates were sent to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean and the 1843-44 to the Marquesas Islands in the south Pacific. The 1840's is when France first took an interest in colonizing those islands but we aren't sure when their control was complete enough to justify the introduction of coinage. Catholic missionaries struggled for decades to suppress tribal warfare and human sacrifice. In addition, European diseases caused a demographic collapse; from an estimate of 50,000 pre-contact, the population dropped to 11,900 in 1853 and to 2,255 in 1926. Other island groups suffered as well but none so bad as the Marquesas.
Recorded mintage: 100,332.
Specification: 20 g, bronze, 30 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-13, Lecompte-318.
- Byrne, Ray, Coins and Tokens of the Caribees, Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
- Gadoury, Victor, and George Cousinié, Monnaies Coloniales Françaises, 1670-1988, 2me Éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 1988.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 54, featuring selections from the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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