Westphalia 1808-C 20 franken
This specimen was lot 3843 in Künker Auction 426 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €625 (about US$885 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"WESTPHALEN, KÖNIGREICH Hieronymus Napoleon, 1807-1813. 20 Franken 1808 C. Mit Münzzeichen "Adlerkopf" und mit Randinschrift. GOLD. Fast sehr schön. (kingdom of Westphalia, Jerome Napoleon, 1807-13, twenty francs of 1808, with eagle's head mintmark and edge lettering. About very fine.)"
This type was 1808-09, 1811, 1813 at Clausthal. Others were made at Hannover. Jerome was made the puppet king of Westphalia by his brother Napoleon in 1807 and ruled there until French defeats forced his abdication. His reign is remarkable for the issue of the first decimal coinage in Germany, which included this twenty franks struck to the standard of the franc Germinal. It and the accompanying half, one, two and five franken are all rare, altho some of the copper three, five and ten centimes are common in low grade. Most of the region was returned to Hannover, which resumed the issue of the old fashioned pfennige, groschen and thalers.
Recorded mintage: 13,450.
Specifications: 6.45 g, 0.900 fine gold, this specimen 5,26 g.
Catalog reference: KM 103, Divo/S. 218; Fr-3517; Schl. 897.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, eLive Premium Auction 426: European and German Coins and Medals from the 16th to the 20th century, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2025.
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