France 1855-A 2 centimes

from the Mountain Groan Collection

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"). The two centimes is the scarcest of the bronze denominations of Napoleon III, tho it is not rare. Two privy marks exist for this date, a hand and an anchor (shown here). There does not seem to be a premium for either one.

Recorded mintage: 5,126,369^[1], the most common date.

Specification: 2 g, bronze, 20 mm diameter, plain edge.

Catalog reference: F.107/20 (anchor privy mark), KM-776.1; Gad-103.

Source:

• ^[1]Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
• 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.

Link to:

• 1855-D centime
• 1855-BB 2 centimes
• 1855-D 2 centimes
• 1855-K 2 centimes
• 1855-A 5 centimes
• 1855-D 5 centimes
• 1855-MA 5 centimes
• 1855-W 5 centimes
• 1855-A 10 centimes
• 1855-BB 10 centimes
• 1855-MA 10 centimes
• 1855-A 20 centimes
• 1855-A 50 centimes
• 1855-A franc
• 1855-A silver 5 francs
• 1855-A gold 5 francs, 14.4 mm diameter
• 1855-A gold 5 francs, 16.7 mm diameter
• 1855-BB 5 francs
• 1855-A 10 francs
• 1855-BB 10 francs d'or
• 1855-A 20 francs d'or
• 1855-BB 20 francs d'or
• 1855-D 20 francs d'or
• 1855-A 50 francs d'or
• 1855-BB 50 francs d'or
• 1855-A 100 francs d'or
• 1855-BB 100 francs d'or
• Coins and currency dated 1855