In this post, we’re going to discuss French gold coins, in particular the 20 Franc gold rooster, and why I believe these coins are a great deal and worth stacking. also well discuss some basic history surrounding the coins and the French Mint.
Generally speaking, I’m not a big fan when buying numismatic coins, or coins where the value is based on the rarity or demand rather than the metal content. However, the gold coins were going to evaluate today, known today as Napoleonic Gold Coins are gold coins that used to be produced by the Paris mint. There are different denominations, mintage numbers for these gold coins, but today I want to focus on the most popular of these coins, the 20 Franc Gold Rooster. While many of the other coins feature Napoleon or Kings such as Louis XVIII or Charles X, the last coin in this series has become to be the most popular. This gold coin known as the French 20 Franc Gold Rooster.
Now one quick point in 1899, the standardization of having .1867 troy ounces of gold and .900 purity took place for several European countries to help facilitate trade.
For example, the 20 Francs Swiss Helvetia, which was produced around the same time as the Rooster coins. I won’t discuss those today, but just know sometimes they sell these in a generic category for 20 Franc gold coins along with French Rooster. So, the online dealer might select a Helvetia for you instead of a Rooster, which are more popular.
Generally speaking, I think the Rooster coin is popular option due to its history, symbolism, and large production quantities meaning they are not that expensive. That said I should point out many of these coins sold today were restruck. Coins dated from 1907-1914 are restrikes and its possible earlier than that could be a restrike. That said, I don’t care whether it is a restrike or not, as I’m approaching this from a bullion perspective not a numismatic perspective.
Generally, I think the French 20 Franc Gold Rooster is a solid option and one that people who prefer silver and gold bullion coins, could consider adding. I’ll get into the reasons more throughout the post, but first let me give some basic info on the 20 Franc Gold Rooster.
The 20 Franc Gold Rooster:
Without question, the most popular French gold coin in the Napoleonic Gold Series is the 20 Franc Gold Rooster coin. First issued from 1898 to 1914 each of these coins has .1867 Troy Ounces of Pure Gold. There were some other dates this was produced again including 1921 and the 1950’s for a few years, but the earlier ones shouldn’t be hard to come by. Now a key thing to know is the coin is 90% gold, 10 copper.
So, the back of the coin has the Gallic Rooster, which is considered France’s unofficial national symbol. The Gallic rooster has been an important part of French history for centuries and was an important symbol during the French Revolution.
The Obverse of the coin has Marianne’s bust, the feminine personification of France and the name symbolizes the spirit of “liberty, equality, and fraternity”.
This raises the question are these coins worth buying?
Before answering, let me give you some of the numbers and also factors to consider.
First is price and premium info. Today (5/13/2024), APMEX is selling a France Gold 20 Francs French Rooster Coin, about uncirculated condition, for $456.36. With a gold price as of this writing of $2,358.70 per troy ounce, you’re paying about 3.6% over spot price, or just $473 per coins.
So, in my opinion, this is a pretty good deal. You’re getting a historic coin, with a cool design and paying a really low premium.
One important thing to consider is condition. Remember many of these coins were used in circulation so it’s reasonable to expect they are worn down. That said, this is one coin that might be better to buy at an LCS than an online bullion dealer. This is because sometimes, from my experience, condition is assessed incorrectly from the dealers. I’m not saying it’s on purpose, but when you are evaluating hundreds or thousands of coins, mistakes are bound to happen.
That said, I think buying these coins in either AU or around there is probably best as if you down to the very good level or lower the coins might very worn down and not something you want.
That said, prices for these can be much better than fractional gold. For example, as of this writing, on Money Metals Exchange, gold tenth ounce Krugerrands are selling for $316 each. That’s around a 30 percent premium percentage over the spot price.
Some might say you’re getting less gold content with the 20 Franc Rooster gold coins as they are worn down. But I think inspecting the coins should minimize this risk.
As mentioned earlier, if you buy make sure that you understand that the coin you buy could be a restrike. If you’re buying for numismatic purposes this could be a big deal.
The French Mint:
The Paris Mint called the “Monnaie de Paris”, is the world’s oldest minting institution. It began production of coins in 864 AD and now its primary job is producing euro coins for the country.
The country has a long history producing both the Livre and francs.
Francs today:
On January 1, 2002, the euro replaced Francs as the main currency in France. However, francs could still be exchanged for euros up until February of 2005, with banknotes available for exchange until 2012. After this, francs were demonetized completely.
All this said I think the 20 Franc rooster is a solid option to add and consider buying.
