Description

Engraver: Augustin Dupré (1748–1833). He was the 14th Graveur général des monnaies (Engraver General of Currency). When the republic was proclaimed, Dupré engraved the bulk of the new revolutionary decimal currency. He introduced the 5 Franc silver piece stamped with the image of Hercules, Union et Force which marked the renaissance of the Franc, and the coins of 1 Centime, 5 Centimes, 1 Décime and 2 Décimes with the head of the Republic wearing the Phrygian cap.

Obverse

Depicts the figure of Heracles stands between two female personifications, who unites Freedom (carrying a staff with a Phrygian cap on top) and Equality (holding an archipendulum, which stands for equality of all citizens) with the inscription of unity and power. Heracles stands in the center protecting the two women and wearing the skin of the Nemean Lion which, in the legend of the twelve tasks, granted him the gift of invulnerability. The name of the engraver in the exergue.

Heracles was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman Emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves.

LIBERTÉ ÉGALITÉ FRATERNITÉ
★ Dupré ★

Reverse

Depicts two entwined branches, oak and laurel, with the legend reading ‘French Republic’. In the center the denomination. The date is in the exergue.

RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE
5
FRANCS
1849
A

Edge

Translation: God Protect France

DIEU PROTEGE LA FRANCE

5 Francs

2nd Republic
KM# 756 Gadoury# 683
Characteristics
Material Silver
Fineness 0.900
Weight 25 g
Diameter 37 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Alt # KM# 756.1, KM# 756.2, KM# 756.3, KM# 756.4
Mints
Bordeaux Mint (K)
Lyon Mint (D)
Paris Mint (A)
Strasbourg Mint (BB)

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