Old French coins

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

French coins today are monetary units with a high degree of protection against counterfeiting. At the moment they are called Euro, but at the same time they are somewhat faceless. But the old banknotes were distinguished by their memorable appearance and various names. We will talk about them.

First French coins

The French coin owes its appearance to the Roman one, which ended up in the country around the 5th-6th centuries. At this time, an intensive influx of banknotes began in France. For the manufacture of the first of them, pure gold was used, but after some time it became clear that the precious metal without any impurities quickly becomes soft and wears off. Therefore, they began to add silver to the issued coins, and in some cases copper, thanks to which banknotes became stronger and more reliable.

Medieval French coins

The beginning of the Hundred Years War was marked by the appearance of the first generally accepted state currency - the franc. French gold cointhe image of the king and the inscription in Latin FRANCORUM REX (which means "king of the Franks"). The king was depicted on this coin on horseback, which is why it became popularly called the "horse" franc. But when the image was changed to a full-length king, the coin became a "foot franc".

The gold franc was produced in France only until the middle of the 15th century, and when Louis XI came to power, the golden ecu replaced the named coin. Already in 1575-1586 they began to mint a silver franc. Its weight was 14.188 g, and the silver from which it was issued was 833 samples.

Such coins were in use until 1642. The issue of banknotes at that time was controlled by French cities. Aristocrats at the same time decided to issue their own coins. And thus, Anglo-Gallic francs began to appear on the territory controlled by England.

Gold coins of France XVII-XVIII centuries

French coins in the 17th century began to be produced from high quality gold. They were called louis. This antique French coin first appeared during the reign of King Louis XIII.

Luidor became the main banknote. There were many of these banknotes, and all of them differed in size, weight and diameter. Most of them weighed 4-6 g. But there was also a record gold coin, which weighed about 10 g. The obverse of the louis was decorated with the image of the king.

They were minted until the very beginning of the French Revolution and until the moment whenThe main coin for the calculation was the franc.

When Napoleon I came to power, Napoleon appeared. Its face value was 20 francs. The golden napoleondor is divided by collectors into the following types:

• Emperor Napoleon;
• First Consul Napoleon;
• coins "with a wreath";
• coins "without wreath";
• with the year of issue indicated by numbers;
• with the year of minting, indicated by letters.

Even after the emperor was overthrown and the monarchy was restored, the making of Napoleons continued. The obverse of the gold coins depicted royal profiles, while the reverse featured the royal coat of arms.

The last of the monarchs under which Napoleons were minted was King Louis Philippe I.

During the prosperity of the II Republic, a gold coin, the denomination of which was 20 francs, gained immense popularity. They called her "Angel". At the end of the 18th century, it was released in the first edition to replace the old louis. The obverse featured an angel writing down the French Constitution.

At the same time, a 20-franc gold coin was minted for the first time. It depicted the goddess of fertility and harvest Ceres. This banknote was issued only in three editions.

Value of gold French coins

Ancient gold coins are very valuable for collectors. They are minted from high quality precious metal and can cost tens of thousands of rubles, and some of them - hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And the main component of the cost of antique gold andof French silver coins among numismatists is how many they were issued and in what condition they are.