Owner Comments:
At first glance, I thought restricting my collecting focus solely to the Soho Mint would consequently narrow the breadth of my collection. I could not have been any more incorrect. My collection has morphed over the years and now includes hundreds of high-quality pieces. I wish I could say that each piece represents a different type, but that is not the case. Duplication is a bound. Often, the duplication is the product of pieces of very similar quality that complement each other. In other cases, the duplication comes from a deep appreciation of rarity and the difficulty I might experience finding a replacement if I suffer from seller's remorse. This piece, and its counterpart, fall neatly within both categories. The current example has a stronger strike, but its counterpart has retained more of the original red color. How do you choose between the two? The matter is further complicated by the fact that this is the rarest variety of the Monneron 5 Sols. Finding an uncirculated replacement would likely require several years of intense effort. I would rather spare myself the heartache and just keep both!
Variety Information This information is presented in each entry for like pieces in the off chance that someone looking for information stumbles upon one entry without noticing the others. The classification of the French 5 Sol pieces can get rather complicated, so much so that standard references such as Mazard (1965) are incomplete or inaccurate. To this end, I only want to distinguish pieces dated 1791 from those dated 1792. Intuitively, the pieces dated 1791 are the earliest of the French 5 Sol tokens struck at the Soho Mint. There are two major varieties among the pieces dated 1791. As noted in Margolis (1988) and supported by my archival research, the first batch of 5 Sol pieces was struck sometime in November of 1791, but the original designs were slightly revised to alter part of the obverse legend and realign the reverse legend, which gave rise to the two major varieties. With these details attended to, it was then prudent to change the date from 1791 to 1792, as no large quantity of these pieces would be available before the end of the year. It appears these revisions were complete by December 26th of 1791, with a small sample of specimens making their way to France for approval (all dated 1792). It is critical to note that all 5 Sol pieces up to this point denoted the third year of Liberty (i.e., L’AN III). However, we know from Dr. Swediaur’s letter dated January 11th to Boulton that the National Assembly had just decreed the fourth year of Liberty. The letter directed Boulton to alter the reverse die to reflect L’AN IV. I am still making my way through the relevant archived material, but it seems reasonable to concur with Margolis (1988) that the three varieties of L’AN III pieces (two dated 1791 and one dated 1792) were struck for a very short period. The 1791 varieties were likely struck in very small quantities, given the haste with which the revisions were requested. The 1792 variety likely shared a better fate, as these tend to be better struck than their predecessors, suggesting that they were the product of experience. Nonetheless, the L’AN III varieties are all truly rare.
Obverse: The obverse design is an intense deception of the Fête de la Fédération. I will do my best to describe it, but viewers are encouraged to make their own observations based on the images provided. The main scene is contained within a vertically oblong oval. A large column appears in the immediate background of a helmeted female draped in robes, who is depicted facing right. Presumably, this woman is an allegorical figure of the French Republic. Her left arm is completely obscured by the tablet in her hands, which is inscribed
CONSTITUTION DES FRANCAIS. An oddly shaped shield appears to her right, which is decorated with a series of fine horizontal lines that are superseded by three fleur de lis. She is seated on what appears to be a solid platform, like what one would see on a statue or monument. The side of which includes the engraver's name
DUPRÉ. F. . Although unconnected to the platform, a slightly taller, albeit narrower column is depicted. We only see one side, but there is an engraving of what appears to be King Louis XVI. A slightly disheveled laurel wreath is affixed above and to the sides of the king’s portrait. In the foreground, immediately in front of these platforms, a small group of partially unraveled scrolls.
Unlike later varieties, there is no discernible writing on the upper scroll. To the immediate right of the seated figure appears a large group of Garde Nationale soldiers marching in formation in full uniform with slight variations in headgear. Their right arm is raised and pointing straight, presumably a symbol of their oath to the republic. The soldier in the immediate foreground is grasping the hilt of his sword with his left hand. Several more rows of soldiers holding rifles with bayonets affixed are either directly depicted or implied to exist behind this first row of saluting soldiers. One of the soldiers, either from the first or second row, is hoisting his sword high in the air. Although not all are clear enough to describe, at least five flags are presented by the soldiers. The most prominent of which is embellished with a liberty cap above a scroll that I believe is supposed to read as
“VIVRES LIBRES OU MOURIR.”. Above this entire scene, but still contained in the oval, appear the words
“PACTE FEDERATIF.”. In two lines, the legend
XIIII JUILLET. MDCCXC appears in the exergue. The oblong oval is contained within the perfectly formed inner circle with a slightly raised rim, within which appears the legend
“VIVRE LIBRE” on the left, and
“OU MOURIR.” on the right. The entire design is enclosed by a toothed border. The biggest distinctions from the later varieties are bolded and italicized.
Reverse: The entire reverse design is contained within a toothed border. Tightly hugging this border appears the legend
“MONNERON FRERES NEGOCIANS A PARIS 1791”. The date,
1791appears roughly at 10 o’clock . The entire circular legend is separated by an inner raised ring. Within the inner ring appears the legend “
MEDAILLE DE CONFIANCE DE CINQ-SOLS A ECHANGER CONTRE DES ASSIGNATS DE 50L ET AU DESSUS ” in
six lines. There is an
“L” shaped symbol in superscript to the “50”, but I was unable to include that above. An exergue line appears but does not bisect the inner ring. Under this line, it reads “
L’AN III DE LA LIBERTE” in two lines.
It is important to note that there is no period after LIBERTE and that the legend appearing under the exergue line is in a smaller font relative to the legend above. Likewise, the lower legend is closer to the inner circle than on even the later 1791 variety. Changing the size of the font was one of the handful of requested design revisions that accompanied changing the year of liberty from L’AN III to L’AN IV and the date from 1791 to 1792.
Edge: DEPARTEMENTS • DE • PARIS • DE • RHONE • DE • LOIRE • ET • DU • GARD • (incuse). The PCGS holder obscures the edge, but this is the inscription on the other L’AN III examples in my collection (both 1791 and 1792 dated pieces). Margolis did not make any note of the edge legend, so it stands to reason that no deviation occurred on this example.
Notes: The Richard Margolis collection has been offered for sale through a series of auctions. He assembled a truly world-class collection of coins, tokens, and medals. This example included a note from Margolis, which reads: “
Monneron 5 Sols Token, 1791, Pacte Federatif/ Legend beginning at 11 o’clock. Rev. die break from denticle c. 7 to 10 o’clock. Lettering (+ all other features) characteristic of being struck from a planed-down die.” Again, I am unsure what to make of the idea that this piece was struck from a planed-down die. As noted elsewhere, Margolis suspected that some of the L’AN III pieces were actually struck using a hand press. The use of a handpress might also explain the inconsistency of quality among the L’AN III pieces dated 1792 and the drastic differences in quality between the two major L’AN III varieties dated 1791. The 1792 L’AN III type is clearly the byproduct of experience as the majority are almost fully struck, whereas the 1791 varieties are often weakly struck with partially incomplete legends. If a hand press was employed, it would also partially explain why so few of the L’AN III varieties were struck. Those who want to learn more about this fascinating chapter of Soho Mint history can do no better than to consult the article written by Richard Margolis (1988), which is partially supplemented by the work of Richard Doty (1998).
References:
Doty, R. (1998). The Soho Mint and the Industrialization of Money. London: National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution.
Margolis, R. (1988). Matthew Boulton' s French ventures of 1791 and 1792; tokens for the Monneron Frères of Paris and Isle de France. British Numismatic Journal, 58, 102-112.
Mazard, Jean (1965). Histoire Monétaire et Numismatique Contemporaine 1790-1963 ; Tome I: 1790-1848. Emile Bourgey, Paris.