After some time, I am returning. I was inspired by an article by @bitcoinman, in which he showed a Swiss 20-franc gold coin. I decided to write a few words about it.
The Great French Revolution of 1789 gradually abolished, or at least attempted to abolish, everything old and introduced everything new. In 1795, a new currency was introduced. The franc was divided into 100 centimes.
The franc was stabilized at the beginning of Napoleon I's reign, specifically in 1803. Its weight, purity, and dimensions were firmly established. This currency was theoretically abolished in 1927, but in fact ceased to exist during World War I.
As Napoleon's armies marched through Europe, they also spread the French monetary system. Individual countries minted francs, sometimes under a different name, but with the same parameters.
Napoleon was defeated, but the francs remained. Many countries, now independent, continued to mint them.
The twenty-franc coin weighed approximately 6.45 g, 90% pure gold, 5.81 g of fine gold. It had a diameter of 21 mm and a thickness of approximately 1.3 mm.
Toto je francouzský dvacetifrank krále Ludvíka Filipa (*1773 - +1850), doba vlády 1830 - 1848.
He was brought to power in France by a revolution that he did not organize. He deposed his relative Charles X, who was the last crowned king of France. Louis Philippe used the title King of the French.
Louis Philippe was ultimately also removed by a revolution, which this time established a republic.
Due to his physique, Louis Philippe was nicknamed the Pear King. He was quite liberal, but he was unable to eliminate the general tension in France at the time. In the end, he left behind these rather nice coins.
And the surrounding states continued to mint francs. In 1852, the then president of France, Louis Bonaparte, nephew of Emperor Napoleon, carried out a coup d'état.
He took power as Napoleon III. Before losing power in 1870 after losing the war with Prussia and the revolution, he managed to establish the Latin Monetary Union in 1865.
The Latin Monetary Union merely formalized the existing situation. The official founding members were France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece.
Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Venezuela, Colombia, and other smaller states also complied with unie standards. Some countries did so for all coin denominations, while others did so only for certain denominations.
I don't collect these coins specifically. But in the 50 years or so that I've been building my collection, some of them have found their way into my hands. In the coming days and weeks, I will be showcasing some of them under #silvegoldstackers. And I will accompany them with similar texts as today.
I wish everyone a wonderful day.
I used Deepl.com to translate the article into English.
