The silver francs of Bonaparte and Napoleon I

Weigh before you read

The law of 7 Germinal Year XI (1803) set the franc at 5 grams of silver, 900/1000 fine. Everything else follows: 1.25 g for the quarter, 2.5 g for the half, 10 g for the 2 francs. Diameters follow suit, from 15 to 27 mm.

A kitchen scale accurate to a tenth of a gram is therefore enough to sort a batch. A heavily worn coin loses a little metal, but a franc never drops to the weight of a half.

The edge gives a second clue. On the quarter and half franc it is plain. The franc and 2 francs carry the incuse words ‘DIEU PROTEGE LA FRANCE’.

The 1809 quarter also stands out by its reverse: for lack of room, the legend is shortened to ‘EMP FRA’, and the word ‘QUART’ replaces any figure inside the wreath. Our French guide to reading a coin shows where to find the date and the mint.

From Consul to Emperor, in six stages

The legends tell the story of the changing regime, and they are how you date a type.

• Year XI-Year 12: ‘BONAPARTE PREMIER CONSUL’, reverse ‘REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE’. The 2 francs of this type is dated Year 12 only.
• Year 12-Year 14: ‘NAPOLEON EMPEREUR’, bare head, but still ‘REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE’ on the reverse, with the revolutionary date.
• 1806-1807: same design, Gregorian date.
• 1807, Paris: a short-lived transitional portrait, known in the catalogues by an old nickname. It exists for all four denominations.
• 1807-1808: first laureate head, reverse still republican.
• 1809-1814: laureate head and ‘EMPIRE FRANÇAIS’, introduced by the decree of 22 October 1808. The quarter was struck only in 1809, in Paris.

During the Hundred Days, Napoleon’s brief return to power in 1815, only the 2 francs was resumed, in Paris; it is covered on the page on Hundred Days coins. The 5 francs pieces of the same period belong to another series.

Mints that followed the borders of the Empire

Paris struck every year, but most provincial mints took part too. The letter is read at the bottom of the reverse, after the date. As the map of the Empire grew, so did the list: Geneva (G) under the Consulate, Turin (U) from Year 12, then Rome (R), Utrecht and Genoa (CL) in the final years. Utrecht is recognised by a small mast-shaped symbol in place of a letter.

These distant mints often produced little, hence mintages of a few thousand, sometimes a few hundred. The 1813 Rome franc does not reach 800 pieces; the 2 francs from Genoa of the same year barely exceeds 900. The Year 14 Lyon 2 francs is leaner still, with 204 pieces.

Do not confuse rarity with age: a Paris franc of 1811 or a half of 1812 is plentiful. What separates an ordinary coin from one collectors look for is the pairing of date and mint, then the condition.

Sisters, cousins and imitations

Several coins slip into the same boxes. The francs of Louis XVIII, from 1816, are the same size but bear the King’s name. Those of Napoleon III, under the Second Empire, read ‘NAPOLEON III EMPEREUR’ and carry the signature BARRE: the Roman numeral is enough to rule them out.

The Kingdom of Italy, of which Napoleon was king, struck silver lire with his effigy and a legend in Italian. The Utrecht coins, on the other hand, are genuinely French: they carry the Empire legends, struck in the Netherlands, then annexed to France.

Contemporary forgeries exist, including of the 2 francs with the 1807 transitional portrait. Be wary of a coin that is too light, sounds dull, has a portrait with no detail in the hair, or an edge with irregular lettering.

On a genuine coin, wear attacks the hair, the ear and the laurel leaves first, then the veins of the reverse wreath. Do not clean blackened silver; our French guide to toning and stains explains what that colour protects.