20 Centimes - Napoléon III pattern of Barre, large head

This is one of several competing pattern submissions produced in 1853 as the Paris Mint worked to establish the definitive coinage types for the newly proclaimed Second Empire. Jean-Jacques Barre, then chief engraver at the Mint, submitted multiple head sizes for consideration — this large-head variant lost out to a smaller portrait that was adopted for circulation. The rejected designs were struck in extremely limited numbers, primarily for official presentation and archival purposes.