Hi Everyone! question about Napoleonic coins...

1907Quarter

My son is thinking of starting a Napoleonic silver coin set, in particular, the laureate, empire dates. he already has a demi franc in xf. I see that the 2-fr and 5-fr are readily available but are the 1-fr and quarter franc avilable too? what would a good price be for these 4 coinss in a nice xf? the gold(20/40 fr) will perhaps be down the road as well!

davidrj

Napoleon I or III?

Biggest stock of French coins is probably CGB try www.numishop.com



David

1907Quarter

Napoleon I

spoon

You're right on the larger silver being more available. I think that's mostly due to the general bias toward big silver in auctions and dealer listings, rather than any indicator of scarcity. The smaller ones seem nearly as prevalent, just not advertised as well. I could be wrong though!

Really I just want to recommend NapoleonicMedals.org. A must see for anyone interested in the period. It's maintained by a very friendly and knowledgeable forum member who goes by elverno, though he seems to have disappeared from the boards.

spoon

Thinking about the first part of my response, that may be a little too casual... from what I know, the smaller denoms were the workhorse of trade, much like Spanish colonial - 2 reales are indeed often scarcer than 8 reales. But, again, I could be wrong - this is just an area I have a passing interest in, not a specialty.

Still, I think you should be able to easily fill out your set with a little patience and a discerning eye

determined

<< <i>Really I just want to recommend NapoleonicMedals.org. A must see for anyone interested in the period. ... >>



Thanks for the link! That's a wonderful site! Good pictures with thorough documentation. I don't collect Napoleonic coins, but I have always been interested in that time period.

Good work elverno, if you're still around.

farthing

These days elverno hangs around on the world coins forum of coinpeople.com - though I have not chatted with him over there.