The New York Sale
Auction 49 15 Jan 2020
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France
Second Republic (1848-1852). Gold 20 Francs, 1851-A (Paris). Head of Ceres right. Rev. Value within wreath, date below (Fr 566; KM 762; Gad 1059). In NGC holder graded MS 64. Value $500 - UP
The increasingly conservative character of the reign of Louis-Philippe (1830-1848) and deteriorating economic conditions in France led to public outcry against the king. Complaint was most commonly voiced at political banquets arranged to get around restrictive assembly laws. On February 22, 1848, Louis-Philippe at last outlawed the banquets, thereby provoking a general strike in Paris. This strike exploded into the Revolution of 1848 after soldiers guarding the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs accidentally killed 52 demonstrators. Louis-Philippe was forced to flee to England. A Second Republic was declared in France but its the viability was threatened almost immediately by the election of Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of the deposed Emperor, to serve as its president. His policies often offended both radical republicans and conservatives in the National Assembly, but the popularity of his name gave him the support of the people. However, his real aim was to claim royal power. Although the Constitution of 1848 required him to step down at the end of his term, on December 2, 1851, Louis-Napoleon staged a self-coup and declared himself Prince-President with sweeping executive and legislative powers with a 10-year term. Within a year he declared a Second French Empire with himself as Emperor. Few seem to have mourned the passing of the Second Republic. When a plebiscite was held on the coup of 1851 7,439,216 voters are reported to have supported it with only 641,737 abstaining. 1.7 million voters abstained. The coinage of the Second Republic often features the head of Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain, on the obverse as a somewhat propagandistic emblem of prosperity. Poverty and hunger had fueled much of the popular support for the ouster of Louis-Philippe and the establishment of the republic. The type is modeled on ancient Greek depictions of Persephone on tetradrachms of Syracuse.
Ex Terner Collection by Private Treaty.
Second Republic (1848-1852). Gold 20 Francs, 1851-A (Paris). Head of Ceres right. Rev. Value within wreath, date below (Fr 566; KM 762; Gad 1059). In NGC holder graded MS 64. Value $500 - UP
The increasingly conservative character of the reign of Louis-Philippe (1830-1848) and deteriorating economic conditions in France led to public outcry against the king. Complaint was most commonly voiced at political banquets arranged to get around restrictive assembly laws. On February 22, 1848, Louis-Philippe at last outlawed the banquets, thereby provoking a general strike in Paris. This strike exploded into the Revolution of 1848 after soldiers guarding the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs accidentally killed 52 demonstrators. Louis-Philippe was forced to flee to England. A Second Republic was declared in France but its the viability was threatened almost immediately by the election of Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of the deposed Emperor, to serve as its president. His policies often offended both radical republicans and conservatives in the National Assembly, but the popularity of his name gave him the support of the people. However, his real aim was to claim royal power. Although the Constitution of 1848 required him to step down at the end of his term, on December 2, 1851, Louis-Napoleon staged a self-coup and declared himself Prince-President with sweeping executive and legislative powers with a 10-year term. Within a year he declared a Second French Empire with himself as Emperor. Few seem to have mourned the passing of the Second Republic. When a plebiscite was held on the coup of 1851 7,439,216 voters are reported to have supported it with only 641,737 abstaining. 1.7 million voters abstained. The coinage of the Second Republic often features the head of Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain, on the obverse as a somewhat propagandistic emblem of prosperity. Poverty and hunger had fueled much of the popular support for the ouster of Louis-Philippe and the establishment of the republic. The type is modeled on ancient Greek depictions of Persephone on tetradrachms of Syracuse.
Ex Terner Collection by Private Treaty.