Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Francs - Napoleon IV Pattern
| Issuer | France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1874 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | 37.17 mm |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Bare-headed left-facing effigy of Napoleon IV (Napoléon Eugène Louis Bonaparte) as a young man, his wavy hair rendered in fine detail. The legend NAPOLEON IV EMPEREUR arcs around the periphery, divided left and right of the portrait. Below the bust truncation, the word ESSAI appears to the left and the engraver's signature C. DE F. to the right, both within the lower field. The coin is bordered by a continuous inner toothed rim. The portrait is executed in a naturalistic, neo-classical style consistent with Second Empire medallic tradition. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | NAPOLEON IV EMPEREUR ESSAI C. DE F. |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Napoleon IV never ruled. This piece was struck in exile — specifically in the legitimist political maneuvering that followed the collapse of the Second Empire after Sedan in 1870. The young prince, Napoléon Eugène Louis, was being positioned by Bonapartist factions as the eventual restorer of the dynasty, and pattern coinage was part of that campaign, establishing visual precedent for a reign that never materialized. He died in 1879 on campaign with the British army in Zululand, a bayonet wound ending both his life and any serious prospect of a Napoleonic restoration.
The tin composition marks this unambiguously as a trial piece rather than a proposed circulating issue.