France 1806-A 1/4 franc

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This tiny coin was struck at Paris, France, under the régime of the emperor Napoleon. It is the commonest date of a short-lived type (1806-07) that remains very scarce today. 1806 marks the return to AD dating after a ten year experiment of using the revolutionary calendar (AN 4-14) which set 1789 as year 1.

The quarter-francs of Napoleon ran thru a number of types, none of which are common (catalog numbers taken from Le Franc VIII):

• F.157: Bonaparte Premier Consul (AN 12 only, 323,000 struck for the type)
• F.158: Napoleon Emperor, revolutionary calendar (AN 12-14, 519,000 struck for the type)
• F.159: Napoleon Emperor, Gregorian calendar (1806-07, this type, 112,000 struck)
• F.160: Napoleon Emperor, "Negro head" (1807A only, 41,000 struck)
• F.161: Napoleon Emperor, laureate head, "République Française" on reverse (1807-08, 23,000 struck for the type)
• F.162: Napoleon Emperor, laureate head, "Empire Français" on reverse (1809A only, 34,000 struck for the type)

Recorded mintage: 31,207^[1], 31,000^[2].

Specification: 1.25 g, .900 fine silver, 15 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: F.159/1, KM 670.1.

Source:

• ^[2]Bruce, Colin R., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 5th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2006.
• ^[1]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.

Link to:

• AN13-A ¼ franc
• 1806-K ¼ franc
• 1806-A ½ franc
• 1806-A 1 franc
• 1806-L franc
• 1806-A 2 francs
• 1806-I 2 francs
• 1806-A 5 francs
• 1806-BB 5 francs
• 1806-I 5 francs
• 1806-L 5 francs
• 1806-M 5 francs
• 1806-Q 5 francs
• 1806-A 20 francs
• 1806-Q 20 francs
• 1806-U 20 francs
• 1806-W 20 francs
• 1806-A 40 francs
• Coins and currency dated 1806