I wrote about gold twenty-franc coins of the Latin Monetary Union last time. Today, I am following up on that article in a way.
I have a pile of gold twenty-franc coins in front of me. I randomly pick one of them. It has the same characteristics as all the others.
Purity: 900/1000 Au, 100/1000 Cu, total weight: 6.45161 g, pure gold content: 5.80644 g, diameter: 21 mm, thickness: approx. 1.3 mm.
It's twenty francs from the Second French Republic. The Second Republic? What's that?
Most states were founded as monarchies. These included various principalities, duchies, kingdoms, and emperores.
At some point in history, these monarchies usually turned into republics. Occasionally, after a republican interlude, the monarchy returned. This happened, for example, in England after Oliver Cromwell's rule.
But I can't think of any other country besides France that has undergone such a complex development.
Judge for yourself:
987–1792 Kingdom. (I am not counting the period of the Frankish Empire under the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties.) Dynasties come and go — Capetians → Valois → Bourbons — but the form of government remains.
**1792- 1804 **The period of the First Republic. At the end of this period, a certain Napoleon Bonaparte appears. First as one of the consuls. Then as first consul. Then consul without a colleague.
1804 - 1814, 1815 I. Empire. The reign of Napoleon I (Bonaparte).
1814, 1815–1848 The kingdom returns.
1848 - 1852 Existence of the Second Republic. A certain Louis Bonaparte became president.
1852 - 1870 Louis Bonaparte becomes Emperor Napoleon III. The Second Empire period.
1870 - 1940 And again, a republic. This time, it calls itself the Third Republic.
1940 - 1945 The period of Nazi occupation by Hitler's Germany. It's a little more complicated than that. Until 1943, there was an occupied and an unoccupied zone. Unoccupied France also minted coins. The motto "Equality, Liberty, Fraternity" was replaced on coins by the motto "Work, Family, Fatherland." Probably the darkest period in French history. Although the Jacobin revolutionary terror during the First Republic was no picnic either.
1945 - 1958 The Fourth Republic period. It is a parliamentary republic, but a very unstable one. The French colonial empire is falling apart. Twenty governments come and go in 12 years. The system is not working. Inflation is skyrocketing.
1958 - ? The Fifth Republic. It is a presidential republic. It used to be quite stable. But today, I wouldn't dare say that about it. But I am not a French citizen, so I may be wrong. After all, the whole world is somewhat broken today.
What do you think? Will the Fifth Republic continue, or will a Sixth Republic be established? Or will France eventually become a Third Kingdom or Third Empire? Or will something completely new emerge?
Whatever the political system in France, you have to admit that its coins were at least interesting, if not beautiful.
I repeat: I don't collect French coins. But in 50 years of collecting, I have acquired a few. And next time, I will continue to present them here on Hive.
Have a nice week!