Reading a coin in three steps
Start with the obverse and its legend, which tells you the origin: the Belgian kingdom, the Italian kingdom or the Swiss Confederation. The ruler comes next. Leopold II for Belgium and Umberto I for Italy are the rule; Leopold I, Albert I or Victor Emmanuel II, the exception. Finish with the reverse: the date and, on an Italian coin, the letter T, M or R.
Scales and callipers serve as a check rather than a means of identification, since all of them show 6.45 g and 21 mm. A clear discrepancy, on the other hand, signals a problem. To make out a worn date, tilt the coin under a lamp with a magnifier in hand, without rubbing.
Helvetia, the short Swiss series
Before the famous Vreneli, Switzerland struck a first gold 20 francs, from 1883 to 1896, at the Bern mint. Its design is by Albert Walch and Christian Bühler and its dies by Karl Schwenzer. It shows Helvetia in profile, wearing a diadem marked “LIBERTAS”, and on the reverse the federal cross shield under a star, in a wreath of oak and olive.
The series is brief and very uneven. 1883 (250,000 pieces) and 1896 (400,000) are the best-supplied years. By contrast, 1887 produced only 176 pieces and 1888, 4,224. In 1893 and 1895, a small quantity of gold mined at Gondo, in the Valais, gave 25 and then 19 pieces, marked with a tiny punch in the centre of the shield and a lighter tint.
From 1897, the plaited young woman of the Vreneli, set against the Alps, took over with the legend “HELVETIA”. A Swiss 20 francs without mountains is therefore a Helvetia.
Belgian and Italian coins: types and dates
Belgium. The Leopold I type carries only the 1865 date; more than half a million of its coins were in fact struck in 1866. Leopold II followed from 1867 to 1882, first with a bushy, sketchily detailed beard, then with a refined one; 1877 exceeds 5.9 million coins. Catalogues note two positions of the reverse relative to the obverse for some years, and for 1865 a faulty signature, “L. WINNER”. Albert I has a single date, 1914, with a French or Flemish legend, for 125,000 pieces in all.
Italy. Victor Emmanuel II struck in Turin, Milan and then Rome; the first two mints add the initials “BN” of the Banca Nazionale to their letter. The Turin 1861 and Rome 1873 and 1875 dates are rare. Under Umberto I, Rome produced everything; the years 1884, 1889, 1891, 1893 and 1897 are considered rare, and Bdor gives only 9,775 pieces for 1884. Italians call these coins “marenghi”, after the gold 20 francs struck following the victory of Marengo in 1800.
Authenticity and condition
Counterfeiters target the rare Italian dates first, and a large share of the examples in circulation are said to be false. Some contain gold, which makes them misleading on the scales. Check that king, year and mint do not contradict one another (Umberto I struck nothing in Turin or Milan), then examine the edge and the relief of the letters. The guide (in French) reconnaître une fausse pièce goes through these checks.
Wear is judged on the raised parts: Leopold II's beard and hair near the ear, the moustache of the Italian rulers, Helvetia's diadem; on the reverse, the lions of Belgium, the Savoyard cross and its collar, the Swiss foliage. Old jewellery mounts often leave solder or the mark of a bail on the edge. Do not clean your coins: the fine scratches left by a cloth or a product show at once. See the guides (in French) on grades and cleaning.
These coins through time
Their story starts before the Union itself: from the 1860s, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy were striking coins inspired by the franc of Year XI. The Paris convention of 23 December 1865 formalised the alliance with France and committed each country to accept the gold and silver of the others in its public treasuries. Greece joined in 1868; other issuers, such as Austria-Hungary with its 8 florins, Monaco or the kings of Sardinia before 1861, struck to the same module, which keeps the confusion going.
In August 1914, the convertibility of banknotes into gold was suspended and the coins left everyday trade. Belgium left late in 1925 and the Union disappeared on 1 January 1927. Kept ever since by banks and private owners, these coins are common today, apart from the rare dates. To compare them with their French counterparts, open the pages on the Rooster and on Napoleon III.
