1855 French 10 Centimes KM# 771.4

This coin features Napoléon III, the nephew of the famous Napoléon Bonaparte of France. Born as Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and known later in life simply as Louis Napoleon, he was elected as President of France in 1848 by a large margin. The French Constitution prevented him from running for a second term of office, so he organized a "coup d'état" before the end of his term, by which he was installed as Emperor of a new French Empire. When he took the throne, he used the royal name Napoléon III, as the ordinal "II" had previously gone to a cousin.

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The obverse of this coin features a portrait of His Imperial Majesty Napoléon III with his name and title "NAPOLEON III EMPEREUR" above (sans diacritical mark) and the mint date (1885) beneath. Flanking the date are two privy marks, an anchor to the left and a rampant lion to the right. The privy marks change according to the location of the mint and the date. In very small letters beneath the portrait is "BARRE" for the engraver Jean-Jacques Barre.

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The reverse (back) of the coin features a fearsome eagle, perched, with arrows beneath. Around the eagle is blazoned "EMPIRE FRANCAIS" (sans diacritical mark) and the denomination of the coin "DIX CENTIMES" (dix = 10, in French, and a centime is 1/100^th of a franc). Beneath the eagle is the mint mark, which is "D" for the city of Lyon. Other possible mint markings on similar coins would include Paris (A), Rouen (B), Strasbourg (BB), Essai (E), Bordeaux (K), Marseilles (MA), and Lille (W). I have no idea how those letters relate to the cities listed.

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All websites I found relating to this coin describe it as being made of bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin, often used in statues. Most copper-based coins are brass (at least in the US) which is a copper-zinc alloy.

Values provided by CoinQuest.com:

• worn: $5 US dollars catalog value
• average circulated: $12  [my coin probably fits this category]
• well preserved: $25
• fully uncirculated: $100