Napoléon (coin)
The 40 franc coins are 26 mm in diameter, weigh 12.90 grams (gross weight) and; are 90% pure gold.
They were issued during the reign of Napoleon I and feature his portrait, sometimes bare headed and other times wearing a laurel wreath (the ancient Roman symbol of imperial or military glory) and, depending upon the political status of France, the words on the front: either Bonaparte – Premier Consul (First Consul) or Napoléon Empereur (emperor).
The type was created pursuant to the decree of the Gaul Subalpine government established after the Battle of Marengo and which existed from 16 June 1800, through 11 September 1802.
The English were supportive of the return of the French king to power after he was deposed by Napoleon in 1815, during the famous Hundred Days.
[11] The coins minted at London were purportedly authorized by Louis XVIII himself and were used to pay British troops occupying parts of North Western France.
[17] The 20 franc gold pieces which he authorized in 1803, became the model of all the coins of the Latin Monetary Union which circulated in Europe until 1914.
For each variety, there was a new enabling statute or executive decree: 28 March 1803; 7 April 1803; 26 June 1804; 8 September 1805; 11 February 1807; 5 August 1807; and 22 October 1808.
By extension, the term Napoleon is applied today to all the various types of 20 franc French gold pieces.
Over the years there were some twenty-three French mints not only in France but also in annexed or occupied countries, including Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Born in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Droz studied in Paris and won acclaim with his fine pattern piece known as the Écu de Calonne after the French finance minister.
This coin was struck with an edge inscription using a six-segmented collar (virole brisée) of Droz' own invention at the Paris Mint.
The coins were the work of Joseph Pierre Tiolier (1763-1819), who was appointed Chief Engraver of the Paris Mint on 1 April 1803.
There were no reducing machines at the time and the entirety of the engraver's work was completed by directly cutting into the die face with punches and gravers.
This equipment, a Balancier Manuel (screw press) included a full ring (closed collar), produced slightly reduced reliefs.
In accordance with the Concordat with Pope Pius VII (1742-1823), signed 15 July 1801, a decree put an end to the revolutionary calendar.
On 17 Brumaire Year 14 (8 November 1805) the Minister of Finance announced the return to the Gregorian calendar, which had been outlawed in October 1793, with effect from 1 January 1806.
The term "tête de nègre" sometimes used for these coins is a colloquial descriptor applied because of the frizzy appearance of Napoleon's hair as that of an African man.
A decree was announced by the Ministry of Finance on 5 August 1807, specifying the addition of a laurel wreath to the bust of Napoleon symbolizing the military victories of the Emperor.
1815R (London) was struck in a lower relief, therefore, examples are difficult to find in better quality, yielding what is known as "condition rarities".
Irregularities of the rims are acceptable and are not considered defects as they were caused by shifts of the coining collar and are characteristic of the edge lettering process.
There was a possibility that in modifying the coinage, Louis XVIII could have broken the reforms of the Revolution and returned to the duodecimal system and the livres of the Old Regime.
