FRANCE - NAPOLEON IV - SILVER 20 CENTIMES PATTERN 1874 - NGC PF63

Napoleon IV, silver 20 centimes pattern, 1874.

Obverse: bare head of Napoleon IV left, signed C. de F., the word ESSAI below the neck, legend NAPOLEON IV EMPEREUR. Reverse: imperial crown, legend EMPIRE FRANÇAIS, denomination 20 CENT. and date 1874 below.

Proof strike with satin devices. Minor handling marks in the mirror fields. Light toning with golden highlights. Proof.

Note: Napoleon IV refers to the Prince Imperial, only son of Napoleon III, who became the Bonapartist pretender to the throne on his father's death in 1873. He never reigned and died in 1879. These 1874 patterns, bearing the title NAPOLEON IV EMPEREUR, are therefore politically motivated fantasy strikes. Their origin remains debated: often attributed to the Würden firm in Brussels as apocryphal strikes, they may also, given the C. de F. signature, come from a private striking carried out in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.