1871 French 2 Francs Weight Question

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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 1,295
winterfell Valued Member United States 231 Posts	Posted 06/16/2013 01:37 am I just got an 1871 A French 2 Francs coin from a reputable coin dealer. The coin appears totally genuine to me and the diameter is right, but I have a question about what the acceptable weight range for these coins is, and I guess coins of this period in general. Krause says these coins should weigh 10 grams, mine weighs 9.76. I checked ebay listings for this coin, and while most listings don't give the weight, or just list the Krause info, the listings that did give the info were as low as 9.66, and others were 9.7 or 9.8 something. Obviously my coin has a fair amount of wear, so does that account for the weight difference? Was the French mint just not too precise with weights? Is there a general rule regarding how close to the Krause weights a coin of this period should be if genuine? Thanks for any help or comments on the coin. Report this Post to the Staff

sel_69l Bedrock of the Community Australia 21786 Posts	Posted 06/16/2013 07:59 am Despite the wear, it looks genuine from the pictures to me. Many countries of the Latin Monetary Union used coins of 2 'something or others', of .900 silver, and 10 grammes in weight. Member countries of the LMU issued coins of the same specifications. If you have another French .900 silver 2 francs coin, or another .900 fine LMU coin of 10 grammes weight, do a comparative ring tone test against the coin pictured and the other for comparison. If the ring tones are the same, the coin pictured should be genuine. Report this Post to the Staff
thq Pillar of the Community United States 3343 Posts	Posted 06/16/2013 6:55 pm I would expect 2-3% weight loss for a coin of that size, so 9.7-9.8g would be about right. I have a forged 2F from the 1830's and it is 2g light. "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire Report this Post to the Staff
winterfell Valued Member United States 231 Posts	Posted 06/17/2013 12:04 am Thank you thq, good to know! sel_69l, this was my first time trying the ring test, it worked very well. The coin definitely has the silver ring, same as my 1898 2 Franc. Thanks for the advice. Report this Post to the Staff
Gwyde Pillar of the Community Belgium 506 Posts	Posted 06/18/2013 07:58 am Somewhen in the late 19th century, the silver content of the 50ct, 1Fr and 2Fr coins was reduced to 0.835. Esp. the smaller silver coins were wearing too rapidly. For the 5 Francs (near crown sized) coins, the 0.900 silver content was maintained. Those coins circulated less; 5 francs was more or less the daily wage of a skilled worker. Edited by Gwyde 06/18/2013 08:03 am Report this Post to the Staff
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