French 1871 5 Francs

[wlewisiii]

 

 

I try to avoid "slabbed" coins as made by the third party grading services like NGC however this time it's worth it for the verification that it is a genuine coin, even if harshly cleaned. In this case, there is a bit of historical significance to the coin. On the reverse is  a small trident to the side of the mint mark of A. "A" signifies the Paris Mint and the trident was the privy mark of Zéphyrin Camélinat, who was the treasurer of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune">Paris Commune of 18 March to 28 May of 1871</a>. Despite the foot dragging of the bankers and the approaching troops of the conservative republican government, he managed to produce, it is believed, about 75,000 5 Franc silver coins, 30,600 of which were in two wagon loads that were taken to the front lines directly from the Paris mint so that the doomed soldiers fighting for the Commune could receive their back pay on May 20 as the final battles began. 

<a href="The Coins of the Commune">The Coins of the Commune</a>
(the term sou survived from pre-revolutionary France as a slang word for 1⁄20 of a franc - thus 100 sou = 5 francs)

One in nearly perfect condition recently sold for $9,000 and fakes are all too common. This one, with the damage from the heavy cleaning - the scratches are quite visible even through the slab - was "only" $295 and moves into 5th place in my "you spent how much on a single coin???" list. It is still a classic example of being reminded to grab the best you can afford because that's better than none. 

Nevertheless this will be the gem of my French coin collection.