The French Angel
izzy452
Posts: 929 ✭
France Third Republique Gold: 1896-A, 20 FR, Dupre’s Standing Genius (Angel)W/Crown Of Oak Leaves At The Pedestall Holding The Constitution, Designed By AUGUSTIN B. DUPRÉ .
The legend of the Lucky Angel
The magnificent “Guardian Angel” design on the obverse was originally created during the French Revolution by Augustine Dupré. In 1871, the design was resurrected by the Third Republic for the French gold 20-franc coin.
Almost from the beginning, gold Angels were regarded as lucky charms. Their legend began during the Reign of Terror in the mid-1790s, when the coin’s designer, Augustus Dupré, claimed to have been saved from the guillotine by the lucky Angel coin in his pocket.
French pilots in World War I rarely took flight without a gold Angel coin in their kit, believing it would protect them from the Red Baron and his aces. During World War II, the chief of Hitler’s Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering, became obsessed with these French Angel coins. Confiscating all he could find, he presented them to ace German fighter pilots as rewards for every fifth Allied plane shot down.
Design Specifications
Minted 1871-98
Gold content 0.1867 troy oz.
Size 21 mm diameter
Fineness .900 Fine
The legend of the Lucky Angel
The magnificent “Guardian Angel” design on the obverse was originally created during the French Revolution by Augustine Dupré. In 1871, the design was resurrected by the Third Republic for the French gold 20-franc coin.
Almost from the beginning, gold Angels were regarded as lucky charms. Their legend began during the Reign of Terror in the mid-1790s, when the coin’s designer, Augustus Dupré, claimed to have been saved from the guillotine by the lucky Angel coin in his pocket.
French pilots in World War I rarely took flight without a gold Angel coin in their kit, believing it would protect them from the Red Baron and his aces. During World War II, the chief of Hitler’s Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering, became obsessed with these French Angel coins. Confiscating all he could find, he presented them to ace German fighter pilots as rewards for every fifth Allied plane shot down.
Design Specifications
Minted 1871-98
Gold content 0.1867 troy oz.
Size 21 mm diameter
Fineness .900 Fine
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Comments
is that you end up being governed by inferiors. – Plato
09/07/2006
Walt
Just kiddin pal - congrats on a nice coin
edit - ahhhhhh - I see now it is not the same coin I was bidding on afterall
My apologies Walt
I think the one I have should go ms something LOL.
Walt
French Angel
My Website
"Everything I have is for sale except for my wife and my dog....and I'm not sure about one of them."
French Angel
My Website
"Everything I have is for sale except for my wife and my dog....and I'm not sure about one of them."
Just kiddin - it has been appropriately marked