January Special
Now Only 100 44 20 Coins Available SOLD OUT
French 20 Franc
Napoleon Bonaparte
Grade: AU50 (NGC)
Minted: 1804-1814
Actual Gold Content: .1867 oz.
Few historic gold coins invoke a sense of awe like the French 20 Franc Napoleon Bonaparte. Gold owners will be hard pressed to find a coin which combines such historical significance with sheer age (all coins are over two centuries old, minted 1804-1814). The coins offered in our January special have all been graded AU50 by NGC, meaning each coin is individually encapsulated and graded. This is an extremely high grade for coins of such historical significance and age.
Historical Note: Napoleon Bonaparte ‘bestrides European history like a colossus.’ He is arguably the most famous individual in Europe’s long history. A gifted military tactician, states- man and politician, Napoleon conquered most of Europe and, in one of the most famous and vainglorious gestures in history, crowned himself Emperor in 1804 thus fulfilling his ambition to follow in the footsteps of the first French emperor, Charlemagne. Few know that Napoleon, among his many accomplishments, was founder of the Bank of France and a staunch advocate of gold over government issued fiat money.
Andrew Dickson White renders this famous account of Napoleon’s views on state finances and paper money: “[The assignat inflation] ended inthe complete financial, moral and political prostration of France - a prostration from which only a Napoleon could raise it. . .at [his] first cabinet council Bonaparte was asked what he intended to do. He replied, ‘I will pay cash or pay nothing.’ . . .[Later] When the first great European coalition was hard pressed financially, and it was proposed to resort to paper money; he wrote to his minister, ‘I will never resort to irredeemable paper money.’ He never did, and France, under this determination, commanded all the gold she needed.”
