Written by the Maison Or & Bijoux Cannes team · updated
| Country | France |
|---|---|
| Metal | Silver, 900‰ fine |
| Weight | 25 g |
| Pure silver content | 22.5 g |
| Diameter | 37 mm |
| Edge | Incuse or raised lettering, wording set by each regime |
| Years struck | Year 4 (1795-1796) to 1878 |
| Main mints | A (Paris), BB, K (Bordeaux); D (Lyon), W (Lille), Q (Perpignan), T (Nantes), MA (Marseille) depending on the period |
Eight successive governments put their image on the same silver disc: 25 g at 900‰ fine, 37 mm across. This 5 francs écu, struck from Year 4 of the Republic to 1878, stayed in everyday use until 1914 and still turns up in many family drawers. Four clues place it: the design, the date, the mint letter and the wear.
Three main designs take turns. Hercules, flanked by two female figures, carries “UNION ET FORCE” under the Directory, then the republican motto in 1848 and from 1870 to 1878. The portraits always come with the ruler's title: Napoleon, Louis XVIII, Charles X, Louis-Philippe, Napoleon III. Finally, the head of Ceres sits beneath the words “REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE”.
Two families on the reverse: the value “5 FRANCS” ringed by foliage (republican types, Napoleon I, Louis-Philippe), or a crowned coat of arms (Louis XVIII, Charles X, laureate Napoleon III). The year and mint letter are always there, between two tiny symbols called privy marks.
A set of landmarks rather than a full catalogue: date and mint combinations run into the hundreds. The rows deliberately mix very common years with small issues. Keep in mind that a scarce date means little if the coin is badly worn.
| Type | Year | Mint | Mintage | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hercules, Directory | Year 4 | A | n/k | First date, Paris only. |
| Napoleon Emperor | 1809 to 1814 | A, BB and others | n/k | “EMPIRE FRANÇAIS” on the reverse. |
| Napoleon, Hundred Days | 1815 | A and others | n/k | Struck for a few weeks after the return from Elba. |
| Louis XVIII bare head | 1816 to 1824 | A, BB and others | n/k | Latin motto on the edge. |
| Charles X | 1824 to 1830 | A, BB and others | n/k | Two versions of the portrait. |
| Louis-Philippe, Tiolier and Domard | 1830 to 1831 | A, BB and others | n/k | Ten or more varieties. |
| Hercules, Second Republic | 1848 | A | 16.6 to 16.8 million | Very common. |
| Hercules, Second Republic | 1848 | D | about 146,000 | Small Lyon issue. |
| Hercules, Second Republic | 1849 | A | 29.1 to 29.3 million | Among the most plentiful. |
| Ceres, Second Republic | 1849 to 1851 | A, BB and others | n/k | Head engraved by Oudiné. |
| Napoleon III bare head | 1854 to 1859 | A, BB and D | n/k | Signed Barre. |
| Napoleon III laureate head | 1867 | BB | 4,337,636 | Frequent. |
| Napoleon III laureate head | 1870 | A | 6,246,264 | Frequent. |
| Ceres without legend | 1870 | K | 569,662 | Bordeaux, Government of National Defence. |
| Hercules | 1871 | A | 237,906 | Bee mark. |
| Hercules, Paris Commune | 1871 | A | 256,410 | Trident mark; Le Franc's figure, disputed by some dealers. |
| Hercules | 1872 | K | 20,994 | Very low mintage. |
| Hercules | 1873 | A | 26,974,890 | Most plentiful date of the type. |
| Hercules | 1878 | K | 363,130 | Last Bordeaux date. |
| Hercules | 1878 | A | about 1,150 | Tiny issue, rare according to BDOR. |
Mintages from BDOR (Hercules of 1848-1849 and 1872-1878) and from CoinVarieties, which relies on the 2014 edition of Le Franc for 1867 BB, 1870 and 1871; Krause gives 4,224,000 for 1867 BB. A range means BDOR and Le Franc disagree. “n/k”: no reliable published mintage for that type or period.
Which design? A group of three figures means Hercules; a man's profile means the Empire, a king or Napoleon III; a woman's head crowned with wheat ears means Ceres. The title engraved around the portrait settles any doubt.
Which date? Under the Directory and early in the Consulate, the year follows the revolutionary calendar (Year 4, Year 9…). The Gregorian calendar returns under the Empire.
Which mint? The letter next to the date names the mint that struck the coin: A for Paris, K for Bordeaux, D for Lyon, BB, W, MA and others. The guide to French mints lists them.
What condition? The same date can come heavily worn or almost untouched, and that is often what matters most.
The franc was created by the law of 28 Thermidor Year III, that is 15 August 1795, which also provided for a large silver coin designed by Augustin Dupré. Eight years later, the law of 7 Germinal Year XI defined the franc as 5 g of silver at 900‰; the 5 francs coin therefore weighs 25 g, a standard that never changed.
Each government changed the picture, not the metal: Bonaparte and then the Emperor, the two Bourbon kings, Louis-Philippe, the republicans of 1848, Napoleon III, and finally the Third Republic, which brought Hercules back. In 1865, the Latin Monetary Union aligned the écus of Belgium, Switzerland and Italy on this model, making them interchangeable with the French ones.
As silver lost value against gold, the Latin Union countries stopped striking these coins: 1878 is the last date. Écus already issued kept circulating until the Great War. To set the coin in its century, see the page on the 19th century.
Privy marks. On either side of the date, two tiny symbols identify the mint director and the chief engraver. They tell apart coins of the same year and letter: in Paris in 1871, the bee marks ordinary écus and the trident those of the Commune, when Zéphirin Camélinat ran the mint.
Re-cut dates. Directory dies stayed in use for several years, so one numeral can be seen struck over another, for instance Year 6 over 5 or Year 8 over 5. Catalogues list them as separate varieties.
Fakes. Imitations in tin or base alloy circulated as early as the 19th century, and modern reproductions add to them. Scales (25 g), calipers (37 mm) and a look at the edge weed out most of them; a cast coin also gives itself away through a grainy surface and soft lettering. The guide spotting a fake coin explains these checks.
Some stayed in use for over a century, so these écus are mostly found in Fine or Very Fine; without wear they become uncommon, all the more so before 1848.
Their weight also explains the frequent knocks on the rim and in the field. Do not rub a tarnished écu: cleaning leaves a flat white look that collectors dislike. More in the grading guide and in our advice before any cleaning.
On 1 March 1815, Napoleon landed in the Golfe-Juan bay with just over a thousand men back from Elba. After a failed attempt on Antibes, the column reached Cannes, where it set up its first bivouac; a plaque on the church of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Voyage recalls the event. So began the Hundred Days, during which the mints went back to striking a 5 francs écu in the Emperor's name, dated 1815. An écu of that year found in an estate in Cannes deserves a close look, since Louis XVIII also had coins dated 1815 struck. A numismatist settles the question during a free valuation.
It is dated 1815, reads “NAPOLEON EMPEREUR” and carries “EMPIRE FRANÇAIS” on the reverse. An 1815 écu with the portrait of Louis XVIII belongs to a different issue.
Genuine coins from 1795 to 1878 all are, at 900‰. Later 5 francs pieces, such as the 1960s Semeuse, are much smaller and are not écus.
At the Bordeaux mint. The letter appears on the 1870 Ceres and on several Third Republic Hercules coins, including 1872, struck in very small numbers.
No. The toning protects the coin and shows its age; cleaning leaves fine scratches and an artificial shine that reduce its appeal.