Any ideas?

[Guest reelbigchris]

Hey Coin-folk! First of all, I know nothing about coins beyond how many I need to buy my daily Chicken and Mango sandwich from Greggs, but I have a question for you people who are more in the know.

I recently bought a small collection of old coppers from a bootsale. They vary greatly in age and condition, and part of the fun is trying to figure out the age, figurehead etc, but one in particular is interesting to me: here's a picture

it may not be British as there are several foreign coins in the box. the date is just about discernable and definately begins 18, and my best guess is that it ends 64. On the top left on the 'heads' side, the letters EON at the end of a word are readable. A part of the letter before the E can be seen and could be an L or possible the greek symbol for Sigma. The only thing that can be made out on the whole of the "tails" side is a solitary letter M.

I'm not willing to commit much effort to this because I'm a student. Simple as that. So links etc. won't be of use.

Any ideas then? just out of interest.

[Master Jmd]

Its French, Emperor Napoleon III, probably around 1864 yes...either a 5 or 10 cents...

Thats all i can offer...i dont know much on foreign coins

Edit: the M is of EMPRES FRANCAIS

Edited September 29, 2004 by Master Jmd

[Chris Perkins]

Well done JMD, I'm pleased you commited the effort!

I can't be bothered to add to that, apart from to tell reelbigchris that it's bronze and too worn to be collectable.

[Emperor Oli]

I have one like that, a five centimes. Next time, try phrasing it different and be pleased with our efforts.

[Guest reelbigchris]

woa gimme chance for f***s sake.

I do of course appreciate your efforts. The mystery of the coin solved! Thanks very much for your time.