The French 50 francs gold coin

A gold coin of the Second Empire

According to BDOR and Abacor, the 50 francs denomination was created by an imperial decree of 12 December 1854. The first coins left the presses of Paris and of the BB mint in 1855, with a bare-headed Napoleon III. In 1862 the profile received a laurel wreath, as happened at the time on every gold coin of the Empire. Production stopped in 1868.

The overall figure stays low: just over 930,000 imperial coins, when the 20 francs napoléon was being struck by the million every year.

After 1870 the Republic took up the value again with the Genius, irregularly: six years only, including 1878 and 1889, two dates linked to the Paris Universal Exhibitions. Only the 1904 issue really passed 20,000 coins. The wider background is set out on the page about 19th-century coins.

Dating a 50 francs at a glance

Everything starts with the portrait. Beard and moustache with no wreath: bare head, 1855 to 1859. Same face with laurel leaves: laureate head, 1862 to 1868. A winged figure leaning over a tablet: Genius, 1878 to 1904.

Then turn the coin over. At the bottom of the imperial reverse, beside the year, stands the letter A (Paris) or BB. No other mint, neither Lyon nor Bordeaux nor Rouen, received this denomination; the Genius only knows A. The guide to mint marks (in French) explains these letters.

Last check, the date itself: nothing in 1860-1861, nothing from 1869 to 1877; Paris struck alone in 1856 and 1857, BB alone in 1863; the Genius exists only for 1878, 1887, 1889, 1896, 1900 and 1904. A combination outside these lists calls for a careful look.

Special pieces and counterfeits

The real curiosities of the series are presentation pieces. Paris delivered plain-edge 50 francs and patterns on burnished flans in 1855; the laureate head has plain-edge patterns dated 1862 and 1868. Under the Republic, 30 burnished flans of 1878 are known, along with the 100 coins of 1889 and two 1878 patterns, one of them described as “à grande écriture” (large lettering).

One counting issue is worth knowing: according to Abacor, coins recorded under 1866 A actually carry the date 1865, so the true mintage of 1865 is not established.

As for fakes, the 1887 and 1900 Genius coins are the obvious targets. Copies turn up in gold and in gilt metal, as do 1904 coins whose last digit has been altered to pass as 1900. Weigh the coin (16.13 g), measure it (28 mm), then use a loupe on the edge letters, the relief of the face or wings, and the area around the final digit of the date. The guide to fake coins (in French) brings these checks together.

Coins that look like it

• The Napoleon III 20 francs: same portraits, but 21 mm and 6.45 g (Napoleon III 20 francs page).
• The 100 francs gold: Napoleon III and then the Genius as well, on 35 mm and 32.26 g; the reverse reads “100 FRS”.
• The 40 francs gold: a 26 mm coin struck before the Second Empire, for the last time under Louis-Philippe.
• The Genius 20 francs: the same scene as the Republican 50 francs, much smaller and in far greater numbers.
• The Hercules 50 francs (1974-1980): same face value, but in silver, 41 mm across, with a group of three figures.

A ruler and a precision scale settle nearly every case.

Reading the wear on a 50 francs

Wider than a napoléon, the coin keeps its details slightly better, but the first areas to go are the same. Bare head: the hair above the ear, then the top of the cheek. Laureate head: the veins of the laurel. Imperial reverse: the eagle's feathers, the thunderbolt and the links of the collar, which fade early.

Genius: the figure's chest and shoulder give way first, then the wings, and lastly the rooster; on the other side, the wreath loses its veins.

Its weight works against it: rubbing against other coins, it picks up knocks on the edge and marks in the field, which count in the grade just as much as wear. Never clean it. Further pointers (in French): grading and why not to clean a coin.