Obverse: identify the front

Napoleon III faces right, surrounded by his imperial name and title. Early coins show a bare head; later laureate types add a wreath. The photographed 1855-A Carnavalet coin shows the bare head and BARRE signature. Its museum attribution identifies Albert-Désiré Barre for this object. Designer signatures and changes should be checked by subtype rather than assigning one personal name to every early and late coin in the family.

Reverse: identify the back

The denomination 10 FRANCS and actual face date appear inside a wreath, with the imperial French legend around the edge and a mint letter below. The matching 1855 museum example has A for Paris. BB identifies Strasbourg on documented historical issues. Read all ten-franc details instead of relying on a similar twenty-franc portrait. The later Ceres and rooster designs are separate coin families and do not belong to Napoleon III merely because they share a denomination.

History and purpose

Gold ten-franc coins provided a smaller denomination alongside the better-known twenty francs during the Second Empire. The normal bare-head sequence includes small and enlarged modules before the laureate portrait. The later French republic used different imagery even where the nominal gold standard remained comparable. A shared reference gold amount does not merge these different issuers, portraits and actual issue dates into one historical identification.

How to identify this variant

Check the imperial portrait, 10 FRANCS reverse, actual year, mint mark and physical module together. The reference lists 17.2 mm for an early small type; Carnavalet’s photographed 1855 enlarged type measures 19 mm. There is deliberately no universal diameter applied to all Napoleon III tens. The museum specimen weighs 3.18 g in its current condition, while the nominal calculation retains the reference’s 3.2258 g standard. An individual worn or mounted coin is not an assay of the standard.

Understanding its metal content

The reference supplies .0933 reference fine troy ounce for this normal standard. For orientation, 3.2258 g × .900 gives 2.90322 nominal fine gold grams. The calculator retains the reference’s rounded published troy-ounce figure rather than silently replacing it with a longer calculated decimal. Ten matching standard coins total .933 reference fine troy ounce. This is a nominal-content calculation, independent of the individual coin’s condition, collector interest and authenticity.

Dates, varieties and composition changes

The original Le Franc dated types support bare-head small issues in 1854–1855, the enlarged bare head in 1855–1860, and laureate issues in 1862–1868. The first 1862 laureate hybrid has a smaller denomination numeral; the definitive large-numeral series has separately listed A and BB varieties. The 1854 smooth-edge and reeded-edge types need separate attribution. The reference’s third-party KM 800 annual table additionally lists 1861 and 1869, while the reference’s own registry ends at 1868 and Le Franc’s complete engraved-date catalog excludes both extra dates. Those conflicting rows are retained in the research log for review.

Melt value versus collector value

Record the actual mint letter, portrait, edge and module before grouping a lot. Early smooth-edge and small-module pieces are distinguishable from ordinary large-module bare or laureate coins. These differences may matter in appraisal, but this guide does not assign an unexamined specimen a grade, scarcity rating or price. Preserve original surfaces and any documented provenance; cleaning or polishing can erase useful attribution and condition evidence.

Authenticity and condition

Compare both faces, the complete imperial legends, denomination, date, edge, mass and module. A gold-colored copy or another French ten-franc design may resemble a cropped emperor photograph. Correct weight alone is insufficient to establish genuineness. Keep any plated piece, damaged attribution or doubtful engraved date separate until an individual assessment resolves it. Do not scratch or acid-test a collector coin yourself to fit a nominal calculator record.

Selling this coin

Separate Napoleon III ten francs from twenties and from the later Ceres or rooster tens. Add actual face years, A or BB marks, module measurements and clear edge photographs to the existing CashForCoins appraisal submission. Standard gold content helps describe matching pieces, while an actual purchase offer can depend on authentication, condition and collector demand. Missing live market data remains unavailable rather than appearing as a guaranteed dollar value.

Sources and calculation methodology

The designated reference metal table controls the 3.2258 g/.900/.0933 nominal reference. Original Le Franc dated classifications and the reference registry support fourteen engraved issue years; additional third-party annual rows for 1861 and 1869 remain an explicitly documented chronology discrepancy. Paris Musées identifies the genuine 1855-A object NM228, its 19 mm module and current worn specimen mass of 3.18 g. That measurement does not replace the reference nominal mass. The museum’s original object page explicitly releases both photographs under CC0; the coin engraver is not asserted to be their photographer.

Common questions

References

• NGC designated world-gold melt reference — weight 3.2258 g; fineness .900; reference AGW .0933 oz (checked 2026-10-12)
• NGC early small-module ten francs — weight; fineness; AGW; diameter 17.2 mm; dates 1854/1855 (checked 2026-10-12)
• Original Le Franc denomination classification — identity; dates small bare-head 1854/1855; large bare-head 1855–1860; hybrid 1862; definitive laureate 1862–1868 (checked 2026-10-12)
• Original Le Franc complete laureate dated entries — identity; actual engraved dates 1862–1868 A/BB; excludes 1861/1869 conflicting third-party rows (checked 2026-10-12)
• NGC own registry Napoleon III issue scope — identity; dates normal circulation scope 1854–1868 (checked 2026-10-12)
• Paris Musées NM228 genuine 1855-A object and CC0 photographs — identity; dates 1855-A; design bare head and wreath denomination; diameter 19 mm; worn object weight 3.18 g; both photographic visuals CC0 (checked 2026-10-12)

Issue-year references

• NGC designated world-gold melt reference
• NGC early small-module ten francs
• Original Le Franc denomination classification
• Original Le Franc complete laureate dated entries
• NGC own registry Napoleon III issue scope
• Paris Musées NM228 genuine 1855-A object and CC0 photographs

Content maintained by CashForCoins. Last substantive record update: 2026-10-12. Report a specification or attribution issue through our contact page.

Related coins

French Marianne Rooster Gold 20 Francs

Photo credits and rights on the linked coin profile.

France • 90% gold; 10% alloy metal

Issue years: 1899–1914

Fine gold: 0.186682 troy oz

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