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Or : 121 124,08€/kg 1031,40 € 0,86%
Argent : 1806,55€/kg 21,22 € 1,18%
Menu
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Or : 121 124,08€/kg 1031,40 € 0,86%
Argent : 1806,55€/kg 21,22 € 1,18%
Many French households keep a few silver coins without quite knowing what they are. A Semeuse found in a drawer, an Hercule inherited from a grandfather, a hundred-franc commemorative bought at the post office in the nineties. These coins have one thing in common: they contain silver metal, and that silver has a value that can be calculated. Here is how to recognise the main French series, what determines their price, and what you can do with them depending on whether you want to buy them or part with yours.
France struck circulating silver coins until 1980, then commemoratives until the changeover to the euro. Four families cover almost everything that trades on the metal market today. To identify yours, two pieces of information are nearly always enough: the face value written on the coin, and the diameter measured with a ruler.
Struck from 1959 to 1969, the 5 Francs Semeuse is the most widespread of the French silver coins. It weighs 12 grams at a fineness of 835 thousandths, with a diameter of 29 millimetres. Oscar Roty’s design, a sower walking into the wind, is the same one later carried over onto the French euro coins. It is often the first silver coin people come across, and its very wide circulation explains why it trades close to the value of its metal.
One point must be checked before anything else, and it is the most common confusion on this coin: only the years from 1959 to 1969 contain silver. From 1970 until 2001 the Semeuse carried on being struck with exactly the same design, but in nickel. Those coins have no metal value at all. The design tells you nothing; the year settles it.
Augustin Dupré’s Hercules group, two figures flanking a central character, appears on two quite distinct coins. The 10 Francs Hercule, struck from 1964 to 1973, weighs 25 grams at 900 thousandths with a diameter of 37 millimetres. The 50 Francs Hercule, struck from 1974 to 1980, is markedly more imposing: 30 grams at the same fineness, for 41 millimetres. It is the largest circulating silver coin France produced in the twentieth century, and the one that comes up most often in searches.
The two are told apart at a glance by size, and beyond doubt by face value. Here the year of issue holds fewer traps than on the Semeuse: the ten-franc coin changed design after 1973, and the fifty-franc coin was no longer struck after 1980. An Hercule is therefore an Hercule, and it contains silver.
Designed by Pierre Turin and struck from 1929 to 1939, these two coins are recognisable by the head of a woman wearing a helmet of wheat ears. The 10 Francs Turin weighs 10 grams for 28 millimetres, the 20 Francs Turin weighs 20 grams for 35 millimetres. Both are struck at 680 thousandths, an appreciably poorer alloy than the Hercule. This is a point many people miss: at equal weight, a Turin contains noticeably less silver than a Semeuse or an Hercule, and therefore trades at a lower price.
Here too the design outlived the metal, and it is worth knowing before rejoicing. Only the years from 1929 to 1939 are silver. The 10 Francs Turin was struck again after the war in cupronickel, from 1945 to 1947 and then from 1947 to 1949, with the same helmeted face and no metal value.
After circulating silver coins were discontinued, the Monnaie de Paris carried on striking 100 Francs in silver from 1982 to 2001, first in the Panthéon type and then as a long series of commemoratives. They weigh 15 grams at 900 thousandths, for a diameter of 31 millimetres. These are the coins most often found in gift sets bought at the time, sometimes still in their blister packs.
The price of an ordinary silver coin is built on a simple basis: the quantity of silver it contains, multiplied by the rate of the moment. That quantity follows from two figures printed in the coin’s specifications, its gross weight and its fineness in thousandths. A 50 Francs Hercule of 30 grams at 900 thousandths contains far more metal than a 10 Francs Turin of 10 grams at 680 thousandths, and that gap alone explains most of the price difference between them.
The silver rate itself moves continuously on international markets. You can follow it on our gold and silver price page. A coin that was worth a certain amount six months ago may be worth appreciably more or less today without the coin having changed at all: it is the metal that moved.
Beyond the metal, two things adjust the price at the margin. First the state of preservation: a heavily worn, scratched or badly cleaned coin loses some of its appeal, without ever falling below the value of its silver. Then the year of issue: some years were struck in smaller numbers, which can attract additional interest from collectors. It is worth staying measured on this point. For the vast majority of Semeuse, Hercule and hundred-franc commemoratives, these coins were produced in very large numbers, and it really is the metal that sets the price. Believing otherwise is the most frequent source of disappointment among people having a family collection appraised.
Silver francs are an accessible way into physical metal. A coin costs a few tens of euros depending on the format and the rate, which lets you start without committing a large sum and build up a holding you can release in small quantities. That is a flexibility a bar does not offer.
Our silver range gathers these French coins alongside the international one-ounce formats. Displayed prices are recalculated continuously from the rate, so what you see on screen matches the market of the moment.
A useful clarification on value added tax, since it gives rise to a good deal of received wisdom. The silver coins we sell carry no tax added to the displayed price: the amount you see is the amount you pay. Only the sale of silver cast bars is subject to it, and the product page says so explicitly. If any doubt remains on a particular item, the product page is what counts.
If you have come here because you hold coins and want to know what they are worth, the route is different. Gold Reserve is a sales site; buy-back is handled by the branches of the Comptoir National de l’Or, of which Gold Reserve is part and which has close to a hundred locations in France and Germany. Your coins are weighed, identified and valued in front of you, and bought back at the price of the day if the offer suits you.
Three pieces of advice before you go. Never clean your coins: stripping or rubbing damages the surface irreversibly and loses more than it gains. Do not sort them by year either, hoping to pick out rare ones; let the professional do that work in front of you. Finally, bring an identity document, as the rules require it for any transaction in precious metals, and be aware that payment for metal bought by a professional must go through a traceable method, never in cash beyond a very low threshold. Our advisers can be reached on +33 9 72 52 18 24 and through the contact form if you would like to prepare your visit.
The confusion is frequent, because several face values exist in both metals, and the gap in value between them is considerable. The 20 Francs Napoléon weighs 6.45 grams at 900 thousandths and remains the most traded gold coin in France. The same face values as your silver coins also exist in gold: the 5 Francs Napoléon, the 40 Francs Napoléon, the 50 Francs Napoléon and the 100 Francs, not forgetting the 100 Francs Génie.
How do you tell which one you are holding? The metal can be seen and felt. Gold is frankly yellow, silver tends towards grey. Above all, gold is nearly twice as dense: a gold coin feels abnormally heavy for its size, and it is always distinctly smaller than its silver counterpart of the same face value. A 50 Francs Hercule measures 41 millimetres for 30 grams, whereas a 50 Francs Napoléon in gold is far smaller and yet of a comparable weight. If in doubt, our advisers identify the coin in seconds.
To go further, you can browse our gold range and our gold coins, or read our guides on which gold bar to buy, on the price of gold per gram and on the value of a 50 Pesos.
The year settles it, never the design. These contain silver: the 5 Francs Semeuse from 1959 to 1969, the 10 Francs Hercule from 1964 to 1973, the 50 Francs Hercule from 1974 to 1980, the 10 and 20 Francs Turin from 1929 to 1939, and the 100 Francs from 1982 to 2001. These do not, although they carry the same face: the Semeuse from 1970 to 2001, struck in nickel, and the post-war 10 Francs Turin, struck in cupronickel from 1945 to 1949.
Its value is calculated from its gross weight of 15 grams and its fineness of 900 thousandths, applied to the silver rate of the day. The price therefore moves constantly with the market. Condition and year of issue can shift it at the margin, but the metal remains the basis.
It depends on the metal. In silver, the 50 Francs Hercule struck from 1974 to 1980 is the heaviest French circulating silver coin, at 30 grams and 900 thousandths. In gold, the 50 Francs Napoléon belongs to a far higher order of value, with no comparison to the silver coins.
No, never. Cleaning leaves micro-scratches and permanently alters the patina. A cleaned coin sells less well than one simply kept as it is, however dull.
No. The price displayed on our silver coins is the price you pay, with no tax added. Only the sale of silver cast bars is subject to value added tax, and the product page for those says so.
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