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Anybody know where I can purchase a French Revolution era 1 or 2 sols in XF+?
GoldenEyeNumismatics
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This is a really tough coin, anyone know where I can find one?
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That is practically impossible,as the French 1 & 2 Sols were never saved,due to their low denomination status.
Aidan.
German ebay (ebay.de) has some as well, may even be in the condition you're after, you need to go to "Munzen" as the category then search.
Hope this helps,
Andrew
Liard, 1789
Sol, 1785
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(Found that while looking for something else
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<< <i>Hey btw, Will, whatever happened with this?
(Found that while looking for something else
The endnotes didn't copy over, but here's a cut and paste from the word document:
The Expression of French Revolution Ideology and Sentiment in French Numismatics of the Era
“There can scarcely have been a single facet of French society untouched by the cataclysm and the coinage reflects first the imposition of the constitution on the monarchy, and subsequently the various stages of the Republic….” Just as the Revolution altered so much of France, it entirely redefined the French numismatic scene. Coins were changed not merely in their designs, but as well in their substance and denominations. A flourishing of medals began to pour into the hands of the French public as well, and an entirely new medium of currency—assignats—made its debut.
The French circulating coinage and currency struck or printed during the Revolution was extremely successful in expressing the general concepts being emphasized at the time. Medals, too, served this purpose, but tended to express ideals and emotions on an event-by-event basis, rather than representing broad trends of ideology.
The French Nation took pride in its coinage. Standardization and consistency of the purity, weight, diameter, thickness and design of the country’s coins had been of utmost importance dating back to Louis XIII. The 34 Royal Mints worked together effectively, producing so much dependable coinage that, for much of the 18th century, one half of all gold coinage circulating in Europe was said to be French.
Medals were fairly prevalent in France. Yet they were a royal monopoly, used mostly for the immortalization of royal figures or for propagandist purposes. No private entity could legally produce its own medals.
In order to better understand the changes in coinage made during the Revolution, it’s important to have a sense of what French coinage was like prior to it. In traditional monarchal style, a profile view of the bust of Louis XVI was present on all denominations. The copper coins of the era displayed Louis XVI’s bust with no drapery or special décor, besides a wig. The silver coins bore the bust of Louis XVI in fine clothing, complete with embroidery. The gold coins portrayed the bust of Louis XVI much like it did on the copper coins: free of major adornment. The reverse of all coins bore the Shield of France, and the reverse of the gold coinage bore the Shield of Navarre as well.
Many denominations bore the legend, in Latin, “His Most Christian Majesty Louis XVI, By the Grace of God King of France and Navarre.” “Navarre” was omitted on coins which did not have sufficient space. The choice of using Latin for this legend partly spurs from tradition, but also represented the monarchy in a Romanistic sense, signifying immense power.
French medals had become a bore by the 1780s. Having fallen victim to too much royal regulation and conservatism, they had become extremely uniform. The obverse typically bore nothing more than a bust of a dignitary and a legend surrounding him/her.
The turmoil and discontent of the mid-late 1780s had been mixed with a growing movement for political reform, and the tension finally erupted July 14, 1789: The Storming of the Bastille. Fueled by enlightened concepts such as emphasis on rationality, Rousseau’s social contract, Locke’s concepts of liberty and equality, Voltaire’s attacks on the state and the power of the church, and drawing on hope from the success of the American Revolution, people’s loyalty to the government was being eroded and support for the church (which promoted peace) was being weakened.
The effect on circulating coinage would not come for two more years, but the Storming of the Bastille had an instant effect on the medallic arts. Dozens of different medals commemorating the Storming of the Bastille were engraved and struck in the following months and years. Benjamin Duvivier, a royal engraver under Louis XVI and whose family had been engravers for the King for roughly 70 years, created a single medal commemorating both the Marquis de Lafayette and the Storming of the Bastille. He declared the former to be “The Avenger of Liberty in Two Worlds,” and the latter to be the “Reconquest of Liberty.” Duvivier successfully conveys both the revolutionary fervor in this medal as well as nationalism and the desire for freedom.
Bertrand Andrieu produced his very first medal to commemorate the Bastille. In fact, it was an entire series of medals. The designs put the viewer in the middle of the action, such as being amidst the rebels as they fire on the walls of the Bastille. This type of motion and excitement in a medal was something not seen often in France before, and conveys the innovative zeal of the Revolution.**
Andrieu later went on and produced a medal honoring the 1789 March of Women. It depicted the vast crowd gathered outside Versailles, with Louis XVI shown in his carriage at about crowd level, implying that he has little control over the crowd and, in a greater sense, fading control over the country itself. Interestingly, the statue of Louis XV, mounted on horseback, is visible towering over the crowd, hinting to the greater stability he held during his reign.
A man who referred to himself as Palloy Patriote produced a less artistically magnificent piece than Andrieu’s Bastille medal, but still significant in its own right. Palloy was a Parisian builder, who was head of the task of dismantling the Bastille. Besides declaring the Storming of the Bastille as the “Epoch of Liberty” on his medal, the very metal which constituted his piece’s substance was that of the Bastille’s dungeon’s chains. This epitomizes the movement to reform the ruling powers of France.
Medals were being produced to commemorate the National Assembly as well. Nicolas Marie Gatteaux, who’d been a royal engraver since 1781, produced a medal depicting all Estates gathered together on the Rue des Chantiers, a location where the National Assembly would meet. The Estates were depicted making “an oath to abandon all privileges.” The higher classes are shown throwing their titles onto the floor next to the Altar of the Fatherland. This represented Roman Republican virtue, as well as the new sense of equality and nationalism.
Another medal, produced by an unknown maker, depicts “France shown as a globe upheld by the people. The clergy and the nobility help the first mentioned.” The same medal also depicts a beehive, which “represents the three orders united.” The concept of fraternity is heavily conveyed.
The liberty cap began to be heavily popularized during this time. Having origins in the ancient Roman Empire, the liberty cap was traditionally a symbol of freedom from slavery. It had been extensively used during the American Revolution, where it came to visually represent the concept of freedom from oppressive powers. The liberty cap had made an appearance on a French medal in 1552, and then the French-produced Libertas Americana medal, designed by Esprit-Antoine Gibelin and engraved by Augustin Dupre in 1782 at the request of Benjamin Franklin, to commemorate certain American Revolutionary War victories. Now, the liberty cap could be seen on numerous medals honoring all sorts of topics.
Even the method in which the medals were sold expressed the concept of equality and opportunity for all. Of course, many engravers took advantage of the revolutionary spirit and produced medals for profit. Often times though, medalists such as Duvivier sold their pieces at no cost more than it cost to produce them, making them available to the broadest range of people possible.
Issued in late August, 1789, actually before the vast majority of the Bastille medals had been produced or released, the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which quite clearly expressed the ideals the revolutionaries held. They desired “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression,” equality amongst men, freedom of thought and religion, equality before the law and a role in government.
On July 14, 1790, one year after the fall of the Bastille, many Frenchmen gathered at Champ de Mars in Paris to celebrate their national unity and the achievements of the past year. The first Constitution of France was ratified that day. Venerating these events, Gatteaux produced a medal that “has strained the resources of symbol and allegory almost to the breaking point.” The medal is incredibly nationalistic, and embodies an extremely broad range of the ideals of the Revolution. It depicts Liberty grasping an opened book, representing the Constitution, with one hand, while her other hand clutches a flagpole, whose flag bears the image of joined hands to symbolize unity and the concept of Rousseau’s social contract between the people and the government. Adorning the top of the flagpole is a liberty cap, a general symbol of the revolution. She is leaning over an altar bearing the words “A La Patrie” (“With the Fatherland”), signifying Liberty’s significance in the French nation and general nationalism. On the opposing side of the altar, the feminine figure of France if shown, with her arm outstretched and its hand pressed against the Constitution which Liberty holds. Her other arm grasps the top of a fasces, symbolic for unity and strength, onto which she leans. Beside Liberty is the seated female personification of public joy, presenting a cornucopia alongside her thigh. The cornucopia is a symbol for bounty and plenty. In one arm she clutches a caduceus, representing peace and commerce.
Flying in the sky above these figures is Truth, portrayed as a bare chested woman. She is shown clearing away the “clouds of error,” allowing light to flow down onto the Constitution. In the highest portion of the medal’s periphery, the Leo zodiac sign is shown, expressing the leadership and courage of all figures shown in the medal.**
Gatteaux’s medal trumps most other Revolutionary medals in its symbolism and embodiment of values. Dupre produced a medal on the same topic as Gatteaux’s abovementioned, but did not manage to produce such a grand piece. By this time, even the most amateur medals bore many basic symbols and ideals. A pair of scales commonly appeared, representing the new sense of justice in society. The Coq François, initially a symbol merely for vigilance, soon became the symbol for France as a whole. The All-Seeing Eye represented equality under the law, and the Oak Wreath of Civic Virtue represented good morality.
Louis XVI did still appear on a number of medals. Those that were royally issued typically proclaimed him to be a “Restorer of French Liberty” or “Father of a Free People.” However, his insignificant and often nonexistent depiction on most popular medals of the era suggest that the devotion of the French people rested elsewhere, and not with King Louis.
Assignats made their first appearance in 1790. Church lands in France had been seized in November, 1789. Assignats were initially bonds, issued only in large denominations, whose value was backed by the confiscated church lands. They were soon issued in smaller denominations, and used as circulating currency.
The concept was fairly revolutionary for France. Like most other nations during this time period, hard money was greatly preferred and much more trusted. The concept of blindly trusting paper notes to hold their value was deeply based in the ideal of virtue set forth by the Revolution, especially since an attempt at paper currency in the early 18th century had failed miserably.
Assignats failed too. It was a classic situation of runaway inflation. The first batch of assignats issued in 1790 had a total face value of 400,000,000 livres. By February, 1796, assignats with a face value of roughly 20,000,000,000 livres were in circulation, trading at below 1% of their printed worth. But this decline in value was justified, for much of the land that supposedly backed the value of the assignats had already been sold into private hands anyway. This had become a situation where currency poorly reflected the virtuous ideal of the Revolution. The French citizens did not trust the government issued paper currency.
Up to 1791, the coinage of France had remained fairly untouched by the Revolution. Designs, weights, and other specifications had been constant. However, when the Constitution of 1791 went into effect it was to be accompanied by a new Constitutional Coinage, revising designs from all denominations of French coinage.
In tune with ideal of equality and opportunity for all, a competition was held to come up with the best designs for French coins. Designs were submitted by Andrieu, Duvivier, Gatteaux, Dupre, Jean-Pierre Droz, Francois Vasselon and Pierre Joseph Lorthior. Most of these men were fairly well known medal engravers.
It was a requisite that the ecu and minor silver coinage portray a bust of Louis XVI on the reverse and for the reverse to bear a “winged Genius [a personification of the Spirit of France] inscribing the Constitution between rooster and fasces.” However, there was still plenty of wiggle room for engravers to make their piece unique. The two most discussed and most popular designs for the silver coins that were most popular were those of Duvivier and Dupre. Duvivier’s design showed Louis XVI facing to the right, representing a less radical political viewpoint as opposed to facing left. This conveys the ideal of rationalism, since it expresses the concept that Louis XVI and the monarchy could be negotiated with, not fought against. Interestingly, Duvivier was the only engraver to put the fleur de lis anywhere on his design. This further promotes the concept that Duvivier believed the monarchy should be cooperated with and that French royalty still should play a role in society.
Dupre won the competition for the aforementioned silver denominations, and with his victory he consequently became Engraver General of France. His design showed a simple portrayal of Louis XVI’s head and neck, free from any major decoration, with the obverse legend “Roi de François” (King of France) and the reverse legend “Regne de la Loi” (Reign of the Law). The reverse legend clearly shows a sense of equality and universal due process of law, and not the legal superiority of the upper classes from the years preceding the Revolution. Additionally, these legends were in French, not Latin as the legends on French coinage had been before. This exhibits equality and nationalism, since it is doing away with a traditional language in exchange for the nation’s own, and making it easier for a broader audience to read and understand.**
For copper and bronze coinage, Duviver’s design was chosen. The design for these denominations was fairly different than with the silver. The copper and bronze coins bore, on the obverse, the bust of Louis XVI with drapery across his chest, and on the reverse a fasces, adorned with a liberty cap at the top, which was surrounded by an Oak Wreath of Civic Virtue.
The various denominations of copper and bronze coins were rationalized as well. Instead of producing coin in both the liard and in deniers, the liard denomination was eliminated, and only 3 denier, 6 denier, 12 denier, sol, and 2 sol coins were struck.
No design alterations were made for the gold coins, although minting of the 2 Louis D’or stopped, leaving only the single Louis D’or in production. The design was not changed.
Interestingly, the Constitutional Coinage was the first circulating, government issued coinage which bore the Coq François, fasces and liberty cap. These symbols had been on medals for nearly two years.
Also, besides bearing the Gregorian date of 1791, the Constitutional Coinage also bore the date in Years of Liberty, with Year I of Liberty starting with the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. A new dating system, an idea that would be used again and to a greater extent later in the Revolution, shows the fresh spirit of the revolutionaries, and that they believed this was the dawn of a new era.
After the church property had been confiscated in 1789, the government had numerous large church bells at their disposal. Some were melted down and used to create artillery. Others were melted and the metal was used to strike sol coins of the Constitutional design of 1791.
During all this coinage modification, the medallic movement had lost a little bit of its pace. Still though, medals were being produced often. Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, a beloved French government official recently elected President of the National Assembly, died on April 2, 1791. To honor his death, his image was placed on the bell metal coinage of the Fourth Year of Liberty, which commenced in the summer of 1792. This suggests a bold sense of nationalism. A public hero, and not the image of the growingly unpopular Louis XVI, had been placed on the nation’s coinage. Adding insult to injury to King Louis, Mirabeau was depicted on the coins in the fashion of a Roman emperor, suggesting he was just as powerful, if not more powerful, than the king.
Many fédérés, the volunteer soldiers of 1792, issued their own medals. They tended to have very bold, nationalistic inscriptions. “Fidelite a la Patrie” (“Fidelity to the Fatherland”), “Force, union et prosperite” (“Force, Union and Prosperity”), “Le patriotisme et la liberte nous ont reunis” (“Patriotism and Freedom joined us together”) and “Serment de la fidelite nationale” (“Oath of National Fidelity”) are examples of the phrases used on medals to show the fédérés commitment to the country.
The year 1792 was one of tension. The new, inexperienced Legislative Assembly had begun following the installation of the Constitution of 1791, and was already becoming weak. France had involved itself in a foreign war it was now losing bitterly. The Brunswick Manifesto, issued July 25, 1792, had essentially threatened to lay waste to the population of Paris and convinced many that the king was treasonous. The first Storming of the Tuileries (where the royal family currently resided) had occurred in June. On August 10, 1792, led by the Paris Commune, the Tuileries was raided again. The Swiss Guard was massacred and the royal family arrested and thrown in jail. The Paris Commune took over as the main power of government.
Duvivier created a medal to commemorate the August 10 Storming of the Tuileries. It depicts a winged figure, representing the Fédérés of Marseilles, stomping upon a scepter, crown and hand of justice, all of which were symbols of the past monarchy. The figure supports herself with a pike, the preferred weapon of the Sans Culottes. The growing radical mood is plainly evident. Of course, the liberty cap is still present in this piece, adorning the top of the pike. The values of 1789 have not been forgotten.
Another factor that had contributed to the tension of 1792 was the lack of hard money in circulation. There was little of it left. Most coinage had been hoarded or taken abroad, forcing many people to use the depreciated assignats. To help fill the void for coinage, a number of merchants issued “Monnaies de Confiance,” which were tokens, typically bronze, redeemable in assignats. The tokens bore slogans similar in their nationalism as those on the medals issued by the fédérés. The merchant tokens held sayings such as (in translation from French) “Live Free or Die,” “Liberty under Law,” and “The French United are Invincible.”
The National Convention first met on September 20, 1792, taking over for the provisional Paris Commune as the main government power in France. The monarchy was abolished on September 21. Louis XVI was executed in January of 1793, however the Constitutional coins bearing his likeliness continued to be struck well into the year. This is a testament to the slow rate of adaptation circulating coins experienced, compared to medals whose themes and emotions would change constantly. Perhaps though, the delay in coinage design change can be accredited to confusion as to what new design should replace Louis XVI. There were in fact experimental coins bearing the image of the young Louis XVII (who had no power, and had never even been crowned) produced. However, the exact time of production for the Louis XVII pieces is a mystery, and it is merely hypothesized that they were struck shortly after the death of Louis XVI.
Interestingly, only a single medal commemorating the execution of Louis XVI was produced within France, but was never released. Such was the case probably because much of the public did not know what sentiment should be expressed at that time. Some people certainly would have celebrated the king’s death, yet the great number of countries which declared war on France shortly thereafter would likely have dampened their spirits.
Following the end of the monarchy, a medal was issued depicting the peaceful, pleasant scene of a beehive, representing industry, alongside a ripening field of corn basking in the sun. The medal bears the legend “Paix aux Chaumieres” (“Peace to the Cottages”). The Convention may have instilled a new sense of stability, and the hopes of the people for a peaceful, prosperous life are reflected in the medal.
In late 1792 a meeting was held at Lyon to discuss a new Republican coinage, which was introduced in 1793. The half, one and two sols were to be produced in bronze or bell metal. The obverse of such pieces bore a tablet with the inscription “Les Honnes Sont Egaux Devant La Loi,” translating to “[All] Men are Equal Before the Law.” Still, the concept of equality and justice shines through. The All-Seeing Eye sits atop the entire design, signifying equality before the law. The reverse of the coins bears the words “Liberte” and “Egalite” (“Equality”), surrounding a pair of scales, representing justice under the law, entwined in the Oak Wreath of Civic Virtue. A liberty cap sits atop the scales. The values set forth by the Republic on this piece was obvious.
Production of the Ecu denomination was halted. Instead, a more rational Six Livres denomination (of equal value to the Ecu) was introduced, whose obverse bore the same winged Genius inscribing the constitution that appeared on the reverse of the Ecu, with the legend “Regne de la Loi”. The reverse of the Six Livres now bore a simple Oak Wreath of Civic Virtue surrounding the denomination, with the date and words “Republique Françoise.”
The concept of rationality was continued with the gold coinage. The classic Louis D’or denomination was disposed of, and a 24 livres denomination (of the same value as the Louis D’or) introduced. Keeping the overall coinage program in a streamlined appearance, the 24 livres coins bore a design identical to the silver 6 Livres.
The radical republicans had a growing power in the Convention in the first half of 1793, which culminated with the more moderate Girondin members being forcefully removed from their positions on June 2. The Committee of Public Safety, led by radicals such as Maximilien Robespierre had been introduced in April, launching the slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” Such values though clearly did not pertain to those who supported the monarchy or were against the Revolution, since from September 1793 to July 1794 roughly 40,000 Frenchmen, accused of such “crimes,” were executed. The period became known as the Reign of Terror.
The Convention announced the induction of the Republican Calendar in October 1793. The first day of Year 1 of the Republic was set as being September 22, 1792. Coinage now began to bear dates not by the Gregorian calendar, but in Years of the Republic.
Not everything done by the Convention under the Jacobin influence was bad. A new constitution, although it never went into effect, was prepared by June of 1793. Incredibly free, it declared things such as universal male suffrage. The Convention also opened up programs to teach farmers how to be more effective, and opened military schools to all boys. It even abolished slavery in the French colonies. However, the Reign of Terror stained the reputation of the Jacobin controlled Convention. After the Reign of Terror was over and Robespierre guillotined, medallists no longer had to fear execution for presenting themes in their medals that could be considered detrimental to the Revolution. Many medals were released, the vast majority mourning the dignitaries killed during the Reign of Terror or the other injustices that had occurred.
Jean-Paul Marat, whose assassination was one of the events that had actually spurred the Reign of Terror, was honored on a uniface medal that proclaimed him to be a “Friend of the People.” Jean-Sylvain Bailly, one of the leaders of the earlier stages of the Revolution, who had also been killed during the Terror, was depicted on a medal stating that “he perished sorrowfully… a victim of public ingratitude.” Palloy Patriote, the man who had earlier struck medals from the iron of the Bastille’s chains, now produced a medal from the metal of prison bars. The reverse of the medal bore the inscription (translated from French) “On the 9 and 10 Thermidor the French Senate were recognized as the deserving well of a free people. This iron comes from the bars of the prison where arbitrary power had thrown me with 73 deputies who seem with their colleagues who escaped from the fury of anarchy, to have been spared to save the republic and assure our country the reign of peace and law. Palloy Patriote.” The obverse of the medal bore the image of France, shown as a woman, crying into an urn. Strewn to her side is a book of laws. Behind her is a memorial to victims of the Revolution (specifically the Reign of Terror) and a representation of the Convention. All these medals are an embodiment of the general emotion of the Thermidorian Reaction. They reflect the sense of loss the French were feeling. Anger was felt too, as was expressed in a medal depicting Robespierre and Cecile Renaud, where it is declared that “His [Robespierre’s] End is that of a Crime.” Robespierre’s final couple years had been spent purging the French nation, now its citizens had to pick up the pieces. No coins were produced for circulation during the Third Year of the Republic, exemplifying how conflicted the country was.
At least during the time period that the Reign of Terror was occurring, the values expressed by the government (but not necessarily from the general public of France) were being pulled out from underneath the ideals represented on the Republican coinage. “Les Honnes Sont Egaux Devant La Loi” (“[All] Men are Equal Before the Law”) had appeared on the obverse bronze and bell metal pieces of the Republican coinage. The reverse bore (in translation from French) “Liberty and Equality.” However, the Reign of Terror specifically singled out anti-revolutionaries and monarchists, subjecting them to execution. This directly violates the principle of equality amongst men. How can a nation claim to have equality while it is murdering people for their political beliefs? The idea of fraternity too, a theme expressed on many French numismatic pieces, had been dealt a blow by the Reign of Terror, during which large organizations were extremely risky to uphold.
Peace was not instilled following the end of the Terror. Price regulations were removed, which increased the inflation of assignats. Occasional uprisings occurred. A “White Terror,” in which numerous ex-Jacobins were killed, spread across the country. A movement towards recentralizing the government was underway.
In August, 1795 the Third Revolutionary Constitution went into effect, establishing the Directory. Composed of a bicameral legislature headed by a five man “Directory” (from which the government got its name), work was begun immediately on reforming French coinage program to a still more rational setup. The monetary system was converted to decimals, by decree, before the Directory’s first month in existence was complete. None of the past denominations were maintained. Instead, the Franc was introduced, which consisted of 100 centimes, or 10 decimes. The Franc coin was to weigh 5 grams of .900 fine silver, the 2 franc coin was to be 10 grams, and the 5 franc 25 grams. A centime was to weigh 1 gram of bronze, 2 centimes were to be 2 grams, and 2 decimes were to be 20 grams. Gold coins were authorized, but no denominations were specified. All that was specified was a piece weighing 10 grams, of .900 fine gold. That didn’t matter anyway for the time being. Few gold coins would not be struck in France until Napoleon was in power.
Dupre submitted pattern pieces for the bronze coinage. His decime pattern bore a civic altar with the legend “The Sovereign People.” His 5 decimes pattern bore an “Egyptian style seated Nature, milk streaming from her breasts for “French Regeneration.”” But instead of these elaborate designs, and once again opting with the ideal of rationality and unity, a personified female bust of the Republic was placed on the obverse of all the bronze coins, encircled by “Republique Française.” The Oak Wreath of Civic Virtue formed a ring, suggesting everlasting strength, around the denomination and date (in Years of the Republic) on the reverse.
The first denominations of the new decimal coinage released into circulation were the 5 centimes, decime, and 2 decime. Instantly there was a public outcry. The French felt that the coins were extremely overvalued. In response to this, the coins were withdrawn and restamped. The 5 centimes coin was restruck as 2 ½ centimes, the decime restruck as 5 centimes, and the 2 decimes restruck as a single decime. This is a wonderful example of the government working as a type of social contract with the people, where they are able to negotiate terms of society.
Patterns were prepared for franc and 2 franc pieces, but they were not struck for circulation. The 5 franc coin, designed by Dupre, became an instant classic. The obverse portrayed an open armed Hercules, the figure of Liberty on one side and that of Equality on the other. They are surrounded by the motto “Union Et Force” (“Union and Strength”). The reverse has on it the Oak Wreath of Civic Virtue surrounding the date and denomination, and “Republique Française” around the periphery. The depiction of a powerful Hercules, along with the words “Union and Strength” strongly suggest the movement towards a more unified and powerful central government, as was the situation with the Directory.**
Medal production slowed with the Directory. In 1796, Gatteaux produced two medals commemorating the Council of 500 and Council of Elders respectively. The obverse shows a serpent forming a ring around the Constitution of Year 3, with the serpent “as a symbol of infinity….” The reverse portrays basic symbols of the revolution such as a fasces and liberty cap, along with bountiful cornucopias and various other symbols. However, by this time most of these symbols were cliché and a bit overused. Though completely without intention, this “overused” feeling reflects the French public’s exhaustion and waning desire to keep up foreign wars.**
The first truly free elections in France were held in 1797 to elect members to the Council of 500 and Council of Elders. However, the results of the elections would have begun to shift the power in the councils towards the royalists. The current republicans couldn’t allow it, and in the Coup d’état de Fructidor the election results were overthrown. As unfair as this may seem, it didn’t conflict too drastically with any of the coins currently being minted. The only symbols on the coins of the Directory that conflicted with the overthrowing of the results was the image of Liberty on the 5 francs piece, and the liberty cap on the bronze issues. However, by this time the liberty cap was much more a general representation of the Revolution than a symbol for any particular values, and the figure of Liberty is within the outstretched arms of Hercules on the 5 francs coin, suggesting that liberty itself can be withheld by the government.
Napoleon came to power in 1799, ending the French Revolution. Within a few years, Napoleon began his own series of coins, glorifying himself. However, the saga of French numismatics from 1789 to 1799 deeply idolized the general values and ideals of the people. Medals, especially, the number of which were produced was exponential to the quantity discussed here, reflected citizens’ and revolutionaries’ emotions and expressed the ideals people were holding on a very dynamic, constantly changing basis. Circulating coinage, however, tended to express broad and general trends in ideals. Almost always the coinage and medals exemplified quite clearly the general will of the most active classes of the Revolution, particularly a sense of nationalism and desire for liberty and equality, and only on a few rare occasions did the values held by the people or held by whichever constitution was in effect stray from what was presented in the numismatics of the era. The coinage and medals of the French Revolution mirrored the very concepts for which the revolutionaries fought.
<< <i>Will,
That is practically impossible,as the French 1 & 2 Sols were never saved,due to their low denomination status.
Aidan. >>
There are a couple uncirculated and AU pieces that have sold on Heritage in the past several years, so I know they exist. I'm aware of where I can pick up a 1793 1 Sol aux balances in XF, but it's pricy for the grade and I want to explore any alternatives.
<< <i>CGB has probably the largest inventory of French coins online. I'm not seeing any of those exactly (this is the best), but here are some close ones that look really nice:
>>
He has some nice material.
<< <i>I'm aware of where I can pick up a 1793 1 Sol aux balances in XF, but it's pricy for the grade and I want to explore any alternatives. >>
If they are that hard to find it may not be pricy for the grade.
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
<< <i>
<< <i>I'm aware of where I can pick up a 1793 1 Sol aux balances in XF, but it's pricy for the grade and I want to explore any alternatives. >>
If they are that hard to find it may not be pricy for the grade. >>
The Revolutionary 1 and 2 Sols in VF+ are severely undervalued as is, but auction records suggest they can be purchased for much lower prices than this seller is asking. The problem is, of course, finding another one!