Napoléon (20-franc gold coin)
1803– ・ gold ・ 19th century ・ Napoleon I to the Third Republic (issues of each regime)
The 20-franc gold coin laid down by the law of Germinal, known as the napoléon. Gross weight 6.45161 grams, fine gold 5.806 grams, diameter 21 millimetres. What is formidable about this coin is that the standard held unchanged across regimes. From Napoleon I through the Restoration, the Second Empire and the Marianne-and-cockerel of the Third Republic, kings changed and republic and empire traded places, yet the weight of the gold stayed as it was in 1803. The indemnity of 5 billion gold francs to Prussia in 1871 was carried by gold paid in this coin.
Diameter 21mm