French 20 Franc

The French 20 Franc gold coin or Napoléon was first minted during the period within which the French republic was using its own calendar. From 1802 to 1804 the coins were marked “AN XI” to refer to the 11th year of the new calendar. In 1806, the calendar was abolished, and the coins from there on in use the Gregorian calendar.

The original french 20 franc featured a portrait of Napoléon Bonaparte, emperor of France until 1814. After his exile, the monarchy was restored under the Bourbon restoration and the Kings of the period feature on the coins from 1814 to 1848. In 1848 the second French Republic was established after the February revolutions, and the Angel (Génie) coin was first issued as a coin of the “République Française”. It was shortly followed by the first depiction of Cérès (Roman goddess of the harvest) from 1849 to 1851.

After a time of political upheaval, Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, latterly Napoléon III was named President, and his image featured on the coins from 1852 to 1870, originally with no adornments (“bare head”) and later with a laurel crown. After his death, the Angel image was once again used from 1871 to 1898, and the design finally changed to the famous symbol of France, the Rooster, from 1898 to 1914; when they were last issued.

The coins were also made in various other sizes and at different times (5 francs, 10 francs, 40 francs, 50 francs, 100 francs) but the 20 franc was the most commonly seen and used.

All of our gold 20 francs are verified for authenticity by our experienced team. Any coins that fall short of our quality standards are not re-sold. As members of the BNTA we ensure that our reputation as a reputable dealer of gold and silver coins and bars is upheld, whether a purchase is for our “best price” or brand new coins.

Please contact us to find out what years and designs we have available. Our other world coins can be found here.

Mint: Varies

Finish: Bullion

Physical weight: 6.45g

Gold weight: 5.805g or 0.1867 troy oz

Diameter: 21mm

Purity: 21.6ct (0.900)

All orders that we dispatch are delivered by one of our trusted couriers; either the Royal Mail or UPS. We deliver to all UK addresses and will clarify before dispatch your date of delivery and tracking number. We deliver from Tuesday to Saturday but next-day delivery restricts us from delivering on a Sunday or Monday.

Our cut off time for orders is 3pm, and we ask all customers to please inform us no later than this time if next-day delivery isn’t an option or if there is any additional information that our couriers may require.

For further delivery information, please check our terms and conditions.

We offer a Click & Collect service for buyers who would prefer to collect their items from our premises in central London. Click & Collect orders can only be paid for by bank transfer, and our bank details are provided when the option to collect is chosen from the checkout page.

We ask all customers who are collecting to bring either a passport or full UK Driving Licence photocard with them when collecting, any weekday from 9.30am to 5pm.

Collections can only be made by the named buyer of the item in question.

ATS Bullion offers secure, fully insured storage for customers who wish to keep their gold with us. We only store gold coins and bars; no other metals or items are accepted.

All customer holdings are held in trust at a secure facility in central London, and customers can add to, withdraw from or sell from their account during business hours. Our standard charge is 1%+Vat of the holdings’ spot value annually, which is re-invoiced every November.

To find out more about storing your gold, please take a look at the storage section of our website.