Can Anyone Explain This Seemingly Rare 1 Franc Dated 1808 U?

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 691
Albert Pillar of the Community United States 1915 Posts	Posted 07/20/2023 08:15 am I've found nothing in the books or online that explains this coin. All I did find was a screenshot of it as an old ebay item with no details. Anyone know anything about it? It's not the normal 1808 Franc that's in the books. A bit larger and not silver. Legends are longer, font is different, leaves are different & hair ribbons are not present compared to the normal coin. Report this Post to the Staff

erafjel Pillar of the Community Sweden 2124 Posts	Posted 07/20/2023 09:09 am I'm guessing a contemporary counterfeit. There are counterfeits of varying quality and in various metals for most denominations. This one is toward the lower end, by someone who could not spell FRANÇAISE. Report this Post to the Staff
Albert Pillar of the Community United States 1915 Posts	Posted 07/20/2023 09:27 am How could it be worn so much? Seems like someone would have known it to not be a genuine silver franc. Report this Post to the Staff
tdziemia Pillar of the Community United States 7943 Posts	Posted 07/20/2023 10:01 am I used to have some contemporary counterfeit 2 reales coins that were so worn the brass was showing through the silver plating. A lot of people couldn't read well, and a lot of others weren't paying attention. And I expect a silver franc had pretty decent buying power that nobody was willing to forego to turn it in. Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16832 Posts	Posted 07/20/2023 10:23 am Quote: How could it be worn so much? Seems like someone would have known it to not be a genuine silver franc. Counterfeiters were of course aware that a freshly-minted coin might get looked at more closely and suspiciously than a heavily worn coin. So one trick that counterfeiters often used was to make their coins already look heavily worn to begin with. It probably originally looked much more convincing, at least in terms of silver colour. Remember, a counterfeiter only needs to fool one person, once, and it's mission accomplished for that counterfeit coin. A counterfeiter neither knows nor cares about how the coin will look once the silver wash wears away (or the mercury wash evaporates), much less how the coin might look in 200 years time. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
Albert Pillar of the Community United States 1915 Posts	Posted 07/20/2023 6:57 pm Reference sources have been found. Hopefully when the book gets here my coin will match up. Report this Post to the Staff
realeswatcher Pillar of the Community United States 1962 Posts	Posted 07/20/2023 11:53 pm Contemporary counterfeit. Napoleonic CC 1F and 2F pop up with some frequency. Curiously, I've not seen many contemp ctft Napoleon 5 Francs... even though ctfts abound with late 1700s ecus and 1820-1840 5F. Report this Post to the Staff
Albert Pillar of the Community United States 1915 Posts	Posted 07/21/2023 12:50 am I have a Napoleon 5 Francs in the counterfeits collection Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 7 / Views: 691

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

All Forums Category: World Coins and Currency Forums Forum: World Coins and Commemoratives

The First Dollar, your premier source for bullion and rare coins. See our bullion list on the site and the coin inventory on ebay.

Silver Gold Bull US is the United States leading bullion dealer. We deliver gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars and precious metals to your door. Order today!

View Last 100 New Topics

View Last 100 Active Topics

Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum

It took 0.29 seconds to rattle this change.