FRANCE - NAPOLEON IV - SILVER 1 FRANC PATTERN 1874 - NGC MS62

Napoleon IV, silver 1 franc 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 arms, shield bearing the eagle set on a crowned mantle and flanked by sceptres, legend EMPIRE FRANÇAIS, denomination 1 F flanking the arms, date 1874 in exergue.

Faint handling marks in the fields. Grey toning and attractive lustre. Mint State.

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.