In this post I look at the 20 Franc Gold Coins that circulated throughout nineteenth century France up until the First World War. I have two of them to showcase here. The first is the iconic Rooster Gold Coin and the second is an early strike from the 1850s during the reign of Napoleon III.
Both 20 Franc coins contain .1867 ounces of Gold. These are affordable and popular fractional gold coins with tons of history. This is one of the big reasons that I decided to include these example in my collection.
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French Gold 20 Franc Rooster
The French Gold 20 Franc Rooster circulated from 1899 to 1914. The front features the iconic Gallic Rooster – a symbol of faith and hope – and the unofficial symbol or France at the time.
The back features Marianne – the personification of France and its classical liberal values of “liberty, equality, fraternity”.
These coins are recognized worldwide and are popular among gold stackers, especially in Europe.
Gold 20 Franc Napoleon III Coin
This coin is an early example – from 1852 to 1860 the coins were minted with a reverse that features a legend surrounding a wreath with the denomination and date in the middle. Later examples (1860-1870) feature a coat of arms instead of the wreath.
Personally, I prefer the wreath. I think its just a better design and reminds me of the pre-1937 Canadian coinage that featured Maple wreaths.
The obverse features Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I and the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. He reigned from December 1852 until September 1870.
A nephew of Napoleon I, he was the last monarch to rule over France. Elected to the presidency of the Second Republic in 1848, he seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be reelected; he later proclaimed himself Emperor of the French. He founded the Second Empire, reigning until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies at the Battle of Sedan in 1870.
Again these coins are tough to find in decent condition because they circulated widely during pre-World War 1 France. In fact, in those days, gold was money!
Latin Monetary Union 1865-1927
France was not alone in issuing 20 Franc gold coins. In fact, along with Belgium, Italy and Switzerland they formed the Latin Monetary Union.
The Latin Monetary Union (LMU) was a 19th-century system that unified several European currencies into a single currency that could be used in all member states when most national currencies were still made out of gold and silver. It was established in 1865 and disbanded in 1927. Many countries minted coins according to the LMU standard even though they did not formally accede to the LMU treaty.
The LMU adopted the specifications of the French gold franc, which had been introduced by Napoleon I in 1803 and was struck in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 40, 50 and 100 francs, with the 20 franc coin (6.45161 grams or 99.5636 grains of .900 fine gold struck on a 21-millimetre or 0.83-inch planchet) being the most common. In the French system the gold franc was interchangeable with the silver franc based on an exchange ratio of 1:15.5, which was the approximate relative value of the two metals at the time of the law of 1803.
I hope to be able to collect and showcase some more of these iconic pieces of global monetary history.
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