| |
| The second of the three types of coins the short-lived (June 16, 1800
- September 11, 1802) Subalpine Republic. I've yet to collect the 20 franc
piece which was made of gold and produced less than 4,400 total pieces. |
| The engraver Amadeo Lavy produced medals
during this period as well. There were only 33,000 of the coin you see above
produced. Strangely enough, several showed up on ebay
about the time that this one did showing that you never know when a rarity
will pop up. I recently heard from an Italian collector who stated that
the mintage was higher, at 141,194 pieces. |
| |
| From Répertoire des Monnaies Napoléonides,
p. 244, comes the following information: |
| Métal: Argent 900 ‰ |
Poids: 25 g |
| ø: 37 mm |
Graveur: Amadeo Lavy |
| |
| D / Figures allégoriques de la Gaule Subalpine
et de la France sur un piédestal. |
| — GAULE SUBALPINE |
| — sur la base du piédestal, signature
LAVY. |
| R / Valeur et millésime en trois lignes
entre une branche de palme et une branche de laurier. Cœur*
sous le millésime. |
| LIBERTE . EGALITE (flower) ERIDIANA (flower) |
| |
| Tranche laurée en relief. |
| Atelier: Turin. |
| |
| *) Le cœur est le symbole du maître
monétaire VITTORIO MODESTO PAROLETTI de TURIN. |
| **) Il est difficile de trouver ces pièces
de 5 Francs en parfait état de conservation. Tout exemplaire
superbe de cette monnaie peut être considéré
comme rare. |
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|
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| Another fact that N. Pirera pointed out was that ERIDANIA
comes from the Latin name of Po River (ERIDANIUS). It's the details that
make this hobby so interesting! Thanks, Nicolo |
| As with the 2 Soldi piece, examples
in excellent condition are rare. |
