France 1854-W 10 centimes

Jean Elsen sale 124, lot 1157

This specimen was lot 1157 in Jean Elsen sale 124 (Brussels, March 2015), where it sold for €120 (about US$150 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[2] noted,

"FRANCE, Napoléon III (1852-1870), Cu 10 centimes, 1854 W, Lille. Superbe à Fleur de Coin. (France, Napoleon III (1852-70), copper ten centimes of 1854, Lille mint, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"

The regime of Napoleon III finally carried out plans developed during the 1840's to melt down and remint all the old copper circulating in France, some of it dating back to before the Revolution of 1789. Several branch mints were reopened for this purpose. The existing mints were Paris ("A"), Strasbourg ("BB") and Bordeaux ("K"); the reopened mints were Lille ("W"), Marseilles ("MA"), Rouen ("B") and Lyon ("D"). This date is common.

Specification: 10 g, bronze, 30 mm diameter, plain edge, designed by Jean-Jacques Barré (1793-1855).

Recorded mintage: 8,193,570^[1].

Catalog reference: Gad-248, F.133/17, KM 771.7.

Source:

• Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• ^[1]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies. Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
• ^[2]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 124, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2015.

Links to:

• 1853-A 10 centimes
• 1854-A centime
• 1854-MA 2 centimes
• 1854-A 5 centimes
• 1854-A 10 centimes
• 1854 10 centimes, erection of a monument at the Bourse at Lille
• 1854-A 10 centimes, mint visit
• Luxembourg 1854 10 centimes
• 1854-A 50 centimes
• 1854-A franc
• 1854-A 2 francs
• 1854-A silver 5 francs
• 1854-A 5 francs d'or
• 1854-A 10 francs
• 1854-A 20 francs
• 1855-A 10 centimes
• Coins and currency dated 1854
• return to Decimal coinage of France (1795-2001)