Quelle pièce!

‘What a coin!’ indeed… This beautifully preserved 20 franc coin from the reign of Louis XVIII is in a capsule, boxed, graded and certified with a potted history of why it’s so special.

Amazingly, this rare coin was actually minted in London by our own Royal Mint. Used by the British army to pay their troops in France who had been fighting Napoleon’s army until 1815, it caused consternation among the French equivalent of our Royal Mint. In all, some 871,581 such coins were struck but many were smelted for their gold content. Such a coin can be identified by the profile of the French King on the obverse with the crowned arms on the reverse inside a wreath. On the same side we can see the ‘R’ mintmark for the Royal Mint.