5 Francs - Louis XVIII Pattern

The Hundred Days — Napoleon's return from Elba in March 1815 — threw the Paris Mint into administrative chaos. Louis XVIII fled before dies for his coinage could be finalized, and pattern production was effectively suspended mid-process. This bronze piece is among the trial strikes produced in that compressed window before or immediately after Waterloo, when the restored Bourbon government was scrambling to reestablish institutional legitimacy faster than its infrastructure could support.

Mazeau 732a distinguishes this from the silver-struck variant, the bronze indicating a workshop proof rather than a submission piece.