French 40 Franc Napoleon I
Grade range: Very Fine/Extra Fine
Minted: 1803-1812
Actual Gold Content: .3734 troy ounces
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Napoleon Bonaparte, it could be said as it was of Julius Caesar, 'bestrides European history like a colossus.' He is arguably the most famous individual in Europe's long history. A gifted military tactician, statesman 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.
The Napoleon I gold coins are among the most sought after of the pre-1933 European gold coins. On the obverse Napoleon is depicted crowned in laurel. The larger 40 franc variety offered here is of greater scarcity to the smaller 20 franc variety, with a total mintage across all mint marks and dates of just under 2.8 million pieces. Far fewer are known to have survived, which is why NGC suggests a retail value in similar condition of $775+, a full $150 per coin higher than those offered here.
Few know that Napoleon, among his many accomplishments, was founder of the Bank of France and a staunch advocate of gold as opposed to government issued, unbacked paper money. Andrew Dickson White renders this famous account of Napoleon's views on state finances and paper money: "[The assignat inflation] ended in the 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."
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