Any one know???

Gabe · Senior Member

It looks like an Imperial French coin to me. It is definately French, due to the writting in the coin, but dont know much more.

coop · Expert Member

185?-W FRANCE (NAPOLEON III EMPEROR) Dix = 10 Centimes. I noted a few on ebay that were 1856 for $2-10. Depending on condition. Nicer ones going for more.

Robert · Senior Member

That is correct. W=Lille mint. Coins of that type and mint mark were struck only between 1853 and 1857.

Between the date and the first "N" of "Napoleon" there is an anchor. That is the Engraver General's privy mark. That implies that your coin was struck during or after 1855.

Between the date and the last "R" of "Empereur" is a lamp. That is the Mint Director's privy mark. That design was used at Lille from 1853-1857.

Therefore, your coin can only be dated 1855, 1856 or 1857.

King Louis XVI was deposed in the French Revolution in 1793 and the First Republic was formed. This was replaced by the Directory, which was a very "Big Brother" type of gov't full of arrests and persecutions. This Directory fell to a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte who called himself "First Consul for Life", which meant Emperor of France and King of Italy. After the Russian Campaign, Napoleon was forced by the Allies (mostly Britain) to abdicate in 1814 and was exiled to Elba, which is an island off the Italian coast.

In his place, Louis XVIII was restored as King of France but it didn't last. Within a year (1815), Napoleon escaped from Elba and, to the delight of the French and to the terror of the rest of Europe, Napoleon gethered his army and tried again (100 Days Campaign) to conquer Europe. This time he was defeated (Waterloo) and was exiled to the island of St. Helena, which is a remote island in the South Atlantic almost halfway between Africa and South America. Napoleon died there in 1821.

King Louis XVIII was again restored as King after Waterloo and ruled until 1824. Charles X ruled from 1824-1830 but he was unpopular, so he was replaced by Louis Philippe who ruled from 1830-1848. Then in 1848, there was a revolution and the Second Republic was established with Louis Napoloen Bonaparte (Napoleon's nephew) elected president. It lasted until 1852 when he was procliamed Emperor Napoleon III. As emperor, he is given credit for bringing prosperity to France until 1870 when the French were defeated in the Franco-Prussian War. Your coin is of Napoleon III.

The Third Republic was then established in 1871 and lasted until the Nazis took over in 1940. Vichy France was the government of occupied France and collaborated w/ the Nazis during most of World War II. In 1944 Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French against the Nazis, established a provisional government which in 1947 was replaced by the Fourth Republic. In 1958, the issue of "decolonization" or granting indepenence to former French colonies was one reason that a new Constitution was drafted and the Fifth Republic was formed. This is the current French system of government.