Le Franc F.531 (bare head) and F.532 (laureate head)
A small 21 mm gold coin with a bearded profile and “NAPOLEON III EMPEREUR” around the portrait: this is the napoléon of the Second Empire. Struck from 1853 to 1870, more than 230 million times over, it set the lasting image of the “napoléon” that still turns up in family estates. Two designs follow one another, the bare head and then the laureate head, and that is where any identification begins.
Napoleon III 20 francs gold coin (1853-1870): how to recognise it
Obverse
The emperor's profile facing right, with moustache and goatee. From 1853 to 1860 the head is bare; from 1861 it wears a laurel wreath. Signed “BARRE” at the base of the neck, legend “NAPOLEON III EMPEREUR”.
Reverse
Bare head type: “20 FRANCS” and the date in the middle of a laurel wreath tied with a bow, with the mint mark below the bow; legend “EMPIRE FRANÇAIS”. Laureate head type: the imperial arms (an eagle on a thunderbolt, the collar of the Legion of Honour, a mantle topped by a crown), “20” and “FR” on either side, date and mint mark below the shield; same legend.
Edge
Raised lettering: “DIEU * PROTEGE * LA * FRANCE”. The scarce burnished-flan pieces of 1853 to 1855, made for presentation, have a plain edge.
Engraver
The Barre family: Jacques-Jean Barre, Chief Engraver until his death in 1855, is credited with the bare head; Albert-Désiré Barre, his son and successor, with the laureate head (attributions vary between sources).
Dates and mintages
Napoleon III 20 francs gold coin (1853-1870): key dates
A selection of benchmark dates, from the largest mintages to the smallest. Paris supplied most of the coins: an A mint mark with an 1850s date is the most ordinary find of all. For the other letters, and for years with varieties, check the two small symbols beside the date as well.
Napoleon III 20 francs gold coin (1853-1870): dates and mintages
Year
Mint
Mintage
Remarks
1853
A
5,729,471
First bare head year; a few burnished flans
1854
A
23,485,957
Record for the type
1855
A
16,595,397
Privy marks dog's head and hand, or hand and anchor
1855
BB
1,759,701
Dog's head and bee, or bee and anchor
1855
D
363,017
Lyon's only year, several lion varieties; lowest mintage of the type
1856
A
17,302,537
Common
1856
BB
1,125,030
Lowest BB mintage of the bare head
1857
A
19,193,214
Only mint at work that year
1858
A
16,860,982
Common
1859
A
20,295,429
Common
1860
A
10,219,917
6 over 5 variety
1860
BB
5,726,718
6 over 5 variety
1861
A
2,607,054
First laureate head year
1861
BB
1,423,199
Lowest BB mintage of the laureate head
1862
A
4,825,915
“Large A” variety
1864
A
7,058,905
Common
1865
A
2,951,440
Reduced Paris mintage
1866
BB
6,978,507
Reeded edge variety, rare
1867
A
2,923,024
Reduced Paris mintage
1868
A
9,281,061
Record for the laureate head
1869
BB
7,316,553
Small and large BB; figure disputed
1870
A
864,873
Final year, lowest laureate head mintage
1870
BB
1,852,567
Final year
Figures taken from the BDOR tables, cross-checked against Abacor; varieties after Le Franc (F.531, F.532). A year's figure covers all of its varieties together. Other sources differ slightly: 1,817,394 for 1855 BB (Numista), 2,067,740 for 1858 BB (CGB). Years left out have intermediate mintages.
Bare head or laureate head: sorting in ten seconds
Start with the emperor's hair. If it is free of foliage, you are holding a bare head, struck between 1853 and 1860. If a wreath of leaves encircles the head, it is a laureate head, from 1861 to 1870.
The reverse settles any doubt. The bare head comes with a laurel wreath surrounding “20 FRANCS” and the date. The laureate head shows a shield bearing an eagle, set on a large mantle, and the denomination is split in two: “20” on one side, “FR” on the other.
Then note the date and the letter. On the bare head, the letter sits under the bow of the wreath; on the laureate head, it is at the bottom, next to the date. With these three details you can place your coin in the table above. For the gold coins of the whole century, see French coins of the 19th century (in French).
Mint marks and tiny symbols
There are only three letters: A for Paris, by far the most frequent, BB for the Empire's second mint, and D for Lyon, which struck this napoléon only in 1855. The full list of letters is in our guide to French mints (in French).
On either side of the date are two minute signs, the privy marks. One refers to the Chief Engraver, the other to the mint director. In 1855 the engraver changed: Jacques-Jean Barre's dog's head gave way to Albert-Désiré Barre's anchor. That year, therefore, a single letter comes in two combinations, and the one with the dog's head is the scarcer. As for directors, Paris signs with a hand, Lyon with a lion, and the BB mint with a bee.
On the laureate head, varieties come from the size of the letter: “large A” in 1862, small and large BB in 1864, 1867 and 1869. A ten-times loupe is all you need to read them.
What wear removes first
These coins stayed in circulation until 1914, so most reach us in Fine or Very Fine condition (TB or TTB in French grading). To place yours, begin with the portrait.
Bare head: the locks above the ear and on the temple flatten first, then the cheekbone and the tip of the goatee. As long as the locks can be told apart, the coin is at least Very Fine; once they form a smooth surface, it drops to Fine.
Laureate head: watch the veins of the laurel leaves. They vanish early, then the leaves blend into the hair.
Laureate reverse: the eagle, the thunderbolt and the links of the collar wear before the folds of the mantle.
An Extremely Fine (SUP) example keeps some original lustre in the fields, at the foot of the letters. Never rub a gold coin: a cloth leaves fine scratches that spoil it for any collector. The guide to grades and the page on cleaning coins (both in French) add to these pointers.
Fakes, varieties and similar coins
Platinum fakes. As early as the Second Empire, forgers struck napoléons in platinum, in both designs. The weight stays close to standard; a grey colour shows through wherever the surface is scratched or worn. The dates reported vary between sources (1858, 1860, 1865 and 1867 among them). These pieces are now collected as witnesses of their time.
Modern gold fakes. Made to imitate a sought-after coin, they often give themselves away through soft relief, poorly detailed hair, irregular edge lettering or an off-standard weight. Check for 6.45 g (a few hundredths less on a worn coin), 21 mm and a crisp edge. See the guide to spotting a fake coin (in French).
Varieties to know: 1860 with the 6 re-engraved over a 5 (A and BB), 1866 BB with a reeded edge, the burnished flans of 1853-1855, and the laureate head patterns (1861, 1862, 1868).
Not to be confused with: the 1852 20 francs reading “LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE”, struck before the Empire; the 10 francs gold coin (in French) with the same portrait, but smaller; the gold 20 lire of Sardinia and later Italy, of the same weight and size but bearing a king's effigy.
From the imperial napoléon to the Rooster 20 francs
The word “napoléon” comes from the 20 francs of the First Empire, struck under the law of 7 Germinal Year XI (1803): 6.45 g of gold at 900 thousandths. Napoleon III took up this standard in 1853, a few months after the Empire was proclaimed. Gold arriving from California and Australia made huge strikings possible: in Paris, every year from 1854 to 1859 exceeded 16 million coins.
In 1865 the Latin Monetary Union brought France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland together around this same standard. The fall of the Empire in September 1870 brought striking to an end. The Third Republic revived the Genius 20 francs, then in 1899 adopted the Rooster 20 francs, struck to the same weight and fineness until 1914 (both pages in French). For the rest of the story into the 20th century, see gold coins (in French).
In Cagnes-sur-Mer
Napoleon III 20 francs gold coin (1853-1870) in the Côte d'Azur
The Treaty of Turin, signed on 24 March 1860, joined Nice and its county to Napoleon III's France, following the plebiscite of 15 and 16 April. Until then, the left bank of the Var reckoned in Sardinian lire, whereas Cagnes, west of the river, was already French. The change happened without a new standard: the Sardinian 20 lire coin had the same 6.45 g of gold at 900‰ and the same 21 mm diameter as the napoléon. On the Côte d'Azur, the 1860 20 francs, the last year of the bare head, is thus the gold coin of the year Nice became French.
Napoleon III 20 francs gold coin (1853-1870): frequently asked questions
My coin reads “LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE”: is it the same one?
No. That legend marks the 1852 20 francs, struck during the presidency, before the Empire. The napoléon described here reads “NAPOLEON III EMPEREUR”.
Why are there two symbols beside the date?
They are privy marks: one shows the Chief Engraver, the other the mint director. In 1855 they separate two varieties of the same date and the same letter.
Is an Italian 20 lire coin part of the same series?
It follows the same Latin Monetary Union standard, but it is a foreign coin: a different sovereign and a different legend. It is classified separately, even though its weight and diameter are identical.
My coin is slightly under 6.45 g: is it a fake?
Not necessarily. A worn coin loses a few hundredths of a gram. A larger gap, a grey colour in the scratches or a blurred edge should put you on guard. A numismatist can look into it during a free assessment (in French).
