The gold 20 francs Rooster

What the edge tells you

Before you even look at the date, turn the coin onto its edge. Two inscriptions exist. “DIEU PROTÈGE LA FRANCE” marks the first type, struck from 1899 to 1906. The republican motto marks the second, from 1907 to 1914, along with everything made again after the Second World War.

Edge and date have to tell the same story. A 1904 date with the motto, or a 1913 date with “DIEU PROTÈGE LA FRANCE”, matches no official striking: the coin is false.

The 1907 switch was no accident. It came two years after the 1905 law separating the Churches and the State, and the Republic then swapped the religious wording for its own motto.

Pinay restrike: an official coin, only a late one

In June 1951, the Paris Mint took up the Rooster dies again and, until 1960, struck fresh coins dated 1907 to 1914. Total: 37,483,500 pieces. According to French Wikipedia, the purpose was to act on the price of gold on the free market. The nickname “Pinay restrikes” refers to Antoine Pinay, head of government from 1952, although the operation was already under way.

These are not counterfeits: design, dies, weight and mint are all the same. The difference lies in the alloy, which holds a little more copper. Wikipedia gives 897.3 thousandths, AuCOFFRE a range of 898 to 900. The colour sometimes leans towards red and, since these coins saw little use, they often look very fresh.

No single sign settles it: lighting and toning alter the hue, and some period coins never circulated. Only a metal analysis gives a firm answer. Measured against output, restrikes account for roughly a third of the coins dated 1907 to 1914; their share among surviving coins is unknown. Collectors tend to look for period strikes, and a date between 1899 and 1906 removes any doubt.

Dates and matt flans: where rarity hides

At the top of the series sit the matt flan coins of 1899 and 1900: a dull ground, a slightly grainy surface. Next come the low-mintage years of the first type, led by 1900 with 605,982 coins, then 1902, 1899 and 1901.

Two oddities complete the picture. In 1921, the State still made 202,359 coins dated 1914, which nothing sets apart from the rest. Finally, the Le Franc catalogue records 1898-dated pre-series trials, also on matt flans, which in practice never appear in family lots.

Fake Roosters: checks you can make at home

Because it is everywhere, the Rooster has been widely imitated, and not always in poor gold. An accurate scale and a calliper are enough for a first sort: 6.45 g, 21 mm, 1.30 mm. Wear removes only a few hundredths of a gram; a larger gap should raise the alarm.

Under a loupe, be wary of Marianne's hair lacking finesse, rooster feathers that look melted, uneven edge lettering or a beaded border with a blurred outline. A mint mark on a Rooster is another warning sign, since the design has none. Further checks are described in the guide to spotting a fake coin (in French).

Reading the grade of a Rooster

On the Marianne side, the first relief to wear is the hair above the forehead, together with the oak leaves decorating the cap; the cheek and the edge of the cap follow. Hair strands still apart and readable leaf veins place the coin at Very Fine (TTB in French grading). Hair reduced to a smooth surface takes it down to Fine (TB).

On the rooster side, the breast is the most exposed point, ahead of the wing and the comb. At Extremely Fine (SUP), each breast feather remains crisp.

The Rooster's broad empty fields, around the bird and behind the profile, keep the traces of knocks, fine scratches and rim nicks. A coin stored in a bag can be covered in them without ever circulating, and these marks weigh on the grade. No cleaning, ever: the reasons are in why not to clean a coin, the full scale in the grading guide (both in French).

Before and after the Rooster

The Rooster replaced the 20 francs Genius in 1899, with a new design but the same standards as the germinal franc of 1803: same weight, same fineness. The Second Empire's Napoleon III 20 francs therefore holds exactly the same amount of gold.

The 1914 war ended gold's place in everyday life. In 1915, Abel Faivre's poster “Pour la France, versez votre or” (For France, pour out your gold) urged the French to exchange their coins for banknotes. The Rooster stopped being money and became a reserve to be kept.