The New York Sale
Auction 49 15 Jan 2020
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France
Napoleon Bonaparte, First Empire (1804-1814). Gold 40 Francs, AN 13-A (1804) Paris mint. Bare head left, Napoleon as Empereur. Rev. Value within wreath, date below (Fr 481; KM 664.1; Gad 1081). In NGC holder graded MS 61, with pleasing original mint fresh luster. Rare in grade. Value $1,500 - UP
The present gold franc multiples name Napoleon as Emperor but reflect a lack of confidence in the idea of completely abandoning the republican style of the preceding revolutionary regime and the period of the Consulate. Indeed, the present coins were struck at the end of the last year of the Consulate (lot 314207) and in the first full year after its dissolution (lot 31206). The bare-headed obverse portrait is intended to mimic Roman numismatic portraits of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, who had also been careful to couch the transition to empire in republican terms. It is also a carry-over from the coins of Napoleon as First Consul, as if to imply no real change except in title to belie the fact that he was in fact a new monarch. In the same vein, the year is expressed not in the years of the Christian Era, but in years of the French Revolutionary Era which, ironically enough, counted from September 22, 1792, the date of the abolition of the French monarchy. It is also notable that while Napoleon is named as Emperor on the obverse the reverse still refers to France as a republic.
Napoleon Bonaparte, First Empire (1804-1814). Gold 40 Francs, AN 13-A (1804) Paris mint. Bare head left, Napoleon as Empereur. Rev. Value within wreath, date below (Fr 481; KM 664.1; Gad 1081). In NGC holder graded MS 61, with pleasing original mint fresh luster. Rare in grade. Value $1,500 - UP
The present gold franc multiples name Napoleon as Emperor but reflect a lack of confidence in the idea of completely abandoning the republican style of the preceding revolutionary regime and the period of the Consulate. Indeed, the present coins were struck at the end of the last year of the Consulate (lot 314207) and in the first full year after its dissolution (lot 31206). The bare-headed obverse portrait is intended to mimic Roman numismatic portraits of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, who had also been careful to couch the transition to empire in republican terms. It is also a carry-over from the coins of Napoleon as First Consul, as if to imply no real change except in title to belie the fact that he was in fact a new monarch. In the same vein, the year is expressed not in the years of the Christian Era, but in years of the French Revolutionary Era which, ironically enough, counted from September 22, 1792, the date of the abolition of the French monarchy. It is also notable that while Napoleon is named as Emperor on the obverse the reverse still refers to France as a republic.