France 1874-A centime

from the Mountain Groan Collection

The specimen shown is a one centime, Cérès head, of a type struck under the Third Republic of France 1872-97. The majority, including this one, are Paris mint issues but Bordeaux produced this type in 1872-78. There are 24 dates in the series. The 1874-A is a common date. The total production for the series is about 23 million, compared to 67 million Napoleon III "bare head" centimes (1853-57) and 41 million "laureate head" centimes (1861-62 & 1870). The Cérès head was replaced by the "Marianne" head designed by Daniel-Dupuis (struck 1898-1920). All the bronze centimes pieces were demonetized in 1940 but by then were worthless.

Recorded mintage: 1,000,000.

Specification: 1 g, bronze, 15 mm diameter, plain edge, designed by Eugéne-André Oudiné (1810-1887).

Catalog reference: F.104/3, Gad-88, KM 819.

Source:

• Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
• Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.

Link to:

• 1857-A centime Napoleon III "bare head"
• 1872-A centime
• 1871-A 5 centimes
• 1874-A 10 centimes
• 1874-A 50 centimes
• 1874-A 5 francs
• 1874-K 5 francs
• 1874-A 20 francs
• 1875-A centime
• Coins and currency dated 1874