FRANCE - CHARLES X - SILVER 1 FRANC PATTERN 1830 PARIS REEDED EDGE - PCGS SP64

Charles X (1824-1830), silver 1 franc pattern, 1830, struck at Paris.

Obverse: bare head of Charles X left, signed MICHAUT below the neck, with a script T beneath. Legend CHARLES X ROI DE FRANCE. Reverse: crowned arms of France between two laurel branches tied with a ribbon, denomination 1 F either side, the so-called “four leaves” reverse die. Date 1830 in exergue, between the privy mark (anchor) and the mint letter. Mint letter A (Paris).

Specimen strike (SP). Reeded edge. Four-leaf variety. Minimal hairlines. The fields are covered with grey cabinet toning with iridescent highlights. Rare. Specimen.

Note: the reeded edge was born of a royal ordinance of 28 March 1830, which provided for a reeded collar in striking the franc. In Paris, it was applied to the franc of Charles X in a single striking only, on 24 May 1830: 3,671 examples in all. Two months later, the July Revolution (the Trois Glorieuses) overthrew the king, and this reeded-edge franc had no sequel under his reign. It remains one of the great rarities of the series.