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1/2 Franc - Napoléon II Essai in bronze
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Central field features the denomination DEMI FRANC in two lines, below which appears the word ESSAI, all enclosed within a wreath of two symmetrical olive branches tied at the base. The date 1816 appears in the exergue below the wreath. The circular legend EMPIRE FRANCAIS runs along the periphery within the milled border. The overall composition is clean and typographically precise, consistent with official French pattern coinage of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Napoléon II — the so-called "King of Rome" — died in Vienna in 1832, never having exercised any real power in France. This essai, struck nearly three decades after his death, belongs to a wave of pattern coinage produced under the Second Empire as Napoléon III periodically tested designs invoking his dynasty's continuity and legitimacy. The bronze striking referenced under Mazard 640a is a trial piece, not a proposed circulation issue — no French government seriously contemplated posthumous coinage for a man who ruled for fewer than fifteen days in 1815.