Very Unsure About This Coin. 1896A 10 Centimes Error?

I have the Krause book as well. The 6th edition. It states that "Most coins manufactured by the French mints contain two or three small 'marks or Differents' as the french call them. These privy marks represent the men responsible for the dies which struck the coins." Also. "During some issue dates, however, the marks changed when the date didn't, even though it should have."

You are correct with the "Fascas" I looked again under 16x with a different light. This would explain the "Engraver Generals' Privy Mark" The other mark would be the "Mint Directors' Privy Mark" to which I am still unsure of.

In 1880, with the last of the branch mints (Bordeaux) mothballed and only the Paris mint remaining in operation, the French mint system was reformed. Among the changes, the "Engraver General" became the "Chief Engraver" and the system of assigning different privy marks to individual mint directors ceased; this privy mark was transferred to the "office" of Mint Director, rather than the individual man, and never changed again; in effect the second privy mark became redundant, a second mintmark which was pictorial rather than alphabetical in nature.

By 1896, there was only one mint in France still striking 10 centime coins: Paris. At Paris, the mintmark was "A" and the Mint Directorate privy mark was "cornucopia". In 1896, there was a change of Chief Engraver with resultant change in privy marks, some coins bearing that date have the older fasces (f) privy mark, others bear the newer torch privy mark (t). But the cornucopia-for-Paris privy mark would appear on both varieties in 1896.

So to answer your main concern: even though it doesn't really look like one, the privy mark on your coin to the left of the "A" is a cornucopia. The privy mark on the right is a fasces.

In my 3rd edition 1800s Krause, the introductory section under "Mint Marks and Privy Marks", the last sentence of the first paragraph reads, "Since 1880 this privy mark has represented the office rather than the personage of both the Administration of Coins and Medals and the Mint Director, and a standard privy mark has been used (cornucopia)." (emphasis mine). I also know that the "cornucopia mintmark" continued to be used on French and French Colonial coins throughout the 20th century, long after the "A-for-Paris" mintmark letter fell into disuse, and it can still be seen on the Euro coins struck in Paris on behalf of France, Monaco and Luxembourg.


Yes.