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meikle10

Napoleon III

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Happy New Year to everyone.

I am a coin collecting 'virgin' and have recently been left some coins by my late Grandmother and I'm not necessarily looking to sell these as I have some very fond memories of sitting on my Grandfathers lap looking at the coins.

I don't have the experience on grading them but I would appreciate any information on the coins.

I have took some pictures but they are mot brilliant as they are only taken from my Mobile phone camera. I can e-mail them if required.

So here are some brief descriptions of the coins.

Dix Centimes.

1. Top Left: Very well circulated with 50% of the letters can be read quite clearly and need to squint at the other 50%. Dated 185? and has the letter 'K' stamped under the eagle.

2. Top Middle: Best quality of all as all of the letters, etc. are very well defined. Dated 1865 and has what seems to have the letter 'B' stamped stamped twice overlapping under the Eagle. Napoleon III also seems to have a laurel on his head! Note sure if I've spelt that right?

3.Top Right: Very well circulated with 50% of the letters can be read quite clearly and need to squint at the other 50%. Dated 1855 and has the letter 'M' stamped under the eagle.

4. Bottom Left: Seems to be of good quality as all of the letters can be read quite clearly. Dated 1854 and has the letter 'K' stamped under the eagle.

5. Bottom Middle: Seems to be of good quality as all of the letters can be read quite clearly, slight rubbing on Eagles left wing as you look at the coin. Dated 1856 and has the letter 'A' stamped under the eagle.

6.Bottom Right: Well circulated but 80% of the letters can be read quite clearly. Dated 1856 and has the letter 'W' stamped under the eagle.

Cinq Centimes.

1. Top Left: Well circulated but 95% of the letters can be read quite clearly. Dated 1855 and has the letter 'D' stamped under the eagle. Does the letter under the Eagle denote which area of France it was minted?

2. Top Right: Best quality of all as all of the letters, etc. are very well defined. Dated 1861 and has the letter 'A' stamped under the Eagle. Napoleon III also seems to have a laurel on his head! Note sure if I've spelt that right?

3.Bottom Left: Very well circulated with 50% of the letters can be read quite clearly and need to squint at the other 50%. Dated 1854 and has the letter 'D' stamped under the eagle.

4. Bottom Right: Second best for quality of all as all of the letters, etc. are quite defined with some rubbing to the left and right hand sides of the front of the coin. Dated 1861 and has the letter 'A' stamped under the Eagle. Napoleon III also seems to have a laurel on his head! Note sure if I've spelt that right?

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Dix Centimes.

1. Top Left: Very well circulated with 50% of the letters can be read quite clearly and need to squint at the other 50%. Dated 185? and has the letter 'K' stamped under the eagle.

2. Top Middle: Best quality of all as all of the letters, etc. are very well defined. Dated 1865 and has what seems to have the letter 'B' stamped stamped twice overlapping under the Eagle. Napoleon III also seems to have a laurel on his head! Note sure if I've spelt that right?

3.Top Right: Very well circulated with 50% of the letters can be read quite clearly and need to squint at the other 50%. Dated 1855 and has the letter 'M' stamped under the eagle.

4. Bottom Left: Seems to be of good quality as all of the letters can be read quite clearly. Dated 1854 and has the letter 'K' stamped under the eagle.

5. Bottom Middle: Seems to be of good quality as all of the letters can be read quite clearly, slight rubbing on Eagles left wing as you look at the coin. Dated 1856 and has the letter 'A' stamped under the eagle.

6.Bottom Right: Well circulated but 80% of the letters can be read quite clearly. Dated 1856 and has the letter 'W' stamped under the eagle.

To begin with, yes, the letters are for which mint in France made the coins.

#1. K mintmark is the mint in Bordeaux. with that much wear, it would have little value as a collectors' coin. The Bordeaux mint struck these coins from 1853-1857.

#2. BB mintmark is the mint in Strasbourg. Yes, the second series of these coins (1861-1865) all have the laurel head Napolean, while the first series (1852-1857) have the bare head Napolean. mintae of yours is just under 5 million, worth about £2-5.

#3. if you look carefully, the M is actually an "M" over an "A", which would be from the mint in Marseilles. 1855 is also a wierd year in that the master engraver changed. Look to the left of the date, the mark should be either a dog's head (1843-1855), or an anchor (1855-1879). The dog's head is a little less common than the anchor, but with a lot of wear, either one would be worth only £1 or so.

#4. 1854-K is a better date, worth about £5-10.

#5. A mintmark is for the mint in Paris, which is the most widely used mint, and thus the most common pieces. 1856 had a mintage of almost 20 million, and barely worth £1

#6. W mintmark is for the mint in Lille. another common piece with a mintage of 11 million, worth about £1.

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Cinq Centimes.

1. Top Left: Well circulated but 95% of the letters can be read quite clearly. Dated 1855 and has the letter 'D' stamped under the eagle. Does the letter under the Eagle denote which area of France it was minted?

2. Top Right: Best quality of all as all of the letters, etc. are very well defined. Dated 1861 and has the letter 'A' stamped under the Eagle. Napoleon III also seems to have a laurel on his head! Note sure if I've spelt that right?

3.Bottom Left: Very well circulated with 50% of the letters can be read quite clearly and need to squint at the other 50%. Dated 1854 and has the letter 'D' stamped under the eagle.

4. Bottom Right: Second best for quality of all as all of the letters, etc. are quite defined with some rubbing to the left and right hand sides of the front of the coin. Dated 1861 and has the letter 'A' stamped under the Eagle. Napoleon III also seems to have a laurel on his head! Note sure if I've spelt that right?

#1. D mintmark is for the mint in Lyon. Again, the 1855 had both the dog's head and the anchor to the left of the date. the dog's head variety would be worth about £4-6, while the more common anchor variety is only worth about £1-2. There are also varieties for a large "D" or a small "D", but I am not real familiar with these (and the values are the same regardless of size)

#2. another Paris issue, decent date, worth £3-6.

#3. another Lyon issue, very common, worth up to £1.

#4. same as #2??

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