New Purchase: 1910-A NGC AU-58 France Angel 100 Franc Gold Piece

Stuart

Here's a new purchase of a 1910-A NGC AU-58 France Angel 100 Franc Gold Piece to complement the other recent French Gold purchases also shown below.

I think that their coin designs are both classic and beautiful.

1910-A NGC AU-58 France Angel 100 Franc Gold Piece







1815-A NGC AU-55 Louis XVIII 20 Franc Gold Piece



1858-A ANACS AU-58 Napoleon III 100 Franc Gold Piece



1856-A NGC AU-58 Napoleon III 50 Franc Gold Piece

worldcoinguy

Nice purchases Stuart! There are some real nice AU-55s and AU-58s out there.

Hyperion

awesome !!! but you need the 40 and the 5

Silvereagle82

As we say down here in Louisiana

laissé bon temps roule

dcamp78

Those are all SWEET coins.

Does anyone know the symbolism behind the rooster and the hand with 2 fingers up on the pedestal?

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Does anyone know the symbolism behind the rooster and the hand with 2 fingers up on the pedestal? >>


Good question.

The rooster (actually, a coq, to use the forum-censor-friendly French spelling) seems to be on a lot of French coins, but I don't know the story behind that.

The hand with two fingers upraised is a pretty old symbol, though of what, I have no idea. I seem to recall a German coin from the Weimar period with that as its main design element, too. And I think it goes way back to early medieval bracteate coins.

Funny, I never really noticed it on the Angel coins until you pointed it out, just now. (I've never had an Angel, personally, though I've had many other French gold pieces.)

The "pedestal" you mentioned is a fasces, of course, which is an ancient symbol of strength through unity (many thin sticks bound together to become unbreakable).

I would be interested to know the story behind the hand and the rooster, myself.

Hyperion

http://www.ambafrance-us.org/atoz/rooster.asp (Source)

One of the national emblems of France, the Coq Gaulois (the Gallic Rooster) decorated French flags during the Revolution. It is the symbol of the French people because of the play on words of the Latin gallus meaning Gaul and gallus meaning coq, or rooster.

The rooster has been used as an ornament on church bell towers in France since the early Middle Ages, but at that time it was probably used to symbolize vigilance as roosters are known to crow at the expectation of the sunrise. The Gallic Rooster has been used for centuries by folk artists as a decorative motif on ceramics or carved and veneered wooden furniture.

The rooster played an important role as the revolutionary symbol, but it would become an official emblem under the July Monarchy and the Second Republic when it was seen on the pole of regiments' flags. In 1830, the "Gallic Rooster" replaced the fleur-de-lis as the national emblem, and it was again discarded by Napoleon III.

Since 1848, the rooster has been seen on the seal of the Republic (Liberty is seated on a rudder decorated by a rooster); it was used from 1899 as a motif on gold 20 franc coins and it occasionally appears on stamps.

It is the emblem of French sports teams in international competitions.


Most symbols of France

shirohniichan

Hyperion's answer is a lot better than my guess.

I figured in meant a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Or was it, "Better to goose the bird in the hand than gander two in the bush"?

Madame

dcamp78

<< <i> Or was it, "Better to goose the bird in the hand than gander two in the bush"? >>