Napoleon Bonaparte & His Gold Friends Would Like to Say Hello To You All

[Bigpoppa]

Though this thread should be in the Beach & Water Hunting section, as that is where they were found, I believe they may qualify as Eye Popping & Mind Blowing.....

Last year after purchasing my Excal I began to find my little hoard of French gold coins on the beach...More of the story can be explained in the recent Midas Riptide thread, as there was an original thread about the first two found, but I had it deleted by Craig many months ago...
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showt...=113063&page=4

I also would like to add publicly that Imalookin2 has apologized to me both publicly and in a personal PM, so there are no hard feelings between us whatsoever..

I guess the internet is just full of fish stories for whatever unknown reasons




I received PM's from people that were never aware of the original finds, so they requested I post pics...As I said in the Midas thread, I am not going to tell any fanciful stories and the pics provided will have to be sufficient..
My current Avatar was created by PhotoRob for me back in Sept, but as you all know I like my new Lucy Avatar better and will return to it after this thread has died away.....The coin pictured in my avi is identical in date as to the one found by a woman who posted hers on T-Net..We have become friends through all of this obviously, because of the craziness of these identcally dated coins and how unusual a find they are for a U.S. beach...My Ceres is in beautiful condition, but hers is even nicer....


The first coin that I would like to show you is my favorite of the bunch for many reasons....
It is the first year Napoleon began minting these 20 Franc gold coins as a standard currency and through the years , all the dates are now referred to as Napoleons...

In early and late 1803, just prior to naming himself The Emporer he had the Paris Mint coins dated AN11 & AN12...
The French Revolution occurred in 1792, so my coin would actually be 12 years after 1792, making it an 1804, however if you research you will find that they were minted in late 1803 and are stated as such by most coin dealers...
Mine as you will see still refers to him as Premier Consel and on the next issue he minted, he is shown with a wreath on his head and named Emporer..

I wish this coin could talk and tell me how it arrived here, because just holding it in my hand gives me such a thrill..The value is irrelevant as recovering such a cool piece of history is just so much cooler....

Here ya go:

Napoleon Bonaparte Premier Consel 20 Franc Gold Coin Dated AN12 Paris Mint

This is in natural daylight:









This is indoors in artificial lighting:









Here are the first two I found on my third day hunting with my new Excal, which received little fanfare, but I took some pics for the newbies here and for others who missed that thread back then:

The one as also shown in the Avatar is a 1851 Ceres 20 Franc Gold Coin Paris Mint..
The other is a 1831 Louis Phillipe I 20 Franc Gold Coin Paris Mint

These are all shot in natural daylight:








Here is an awesome Wiki link, which explains most of their history...I have a few others that show pics of all the diff types issued, that I can also post a link of if anyone is more interested..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_(coin)




I spent months gridding and hunting to keep adding to the collection, as I wanted to see just how many I could uncover...
Too much attention now surrounds me in my area, so I have moved on and most of you know from my past posts where I can be found

I am devoting this next year to learning water hunting as it's my new passion and challenge...In the short time that I have begun venturing a bit into the water it can be clearly seen that the coins totals may be fewer, but the jewelry finds are way greater...

So stay tuned for future pics of my finds and I hope you enjoyed looking at some of the Napoleons that I have posted for you today...
Sorry the pics aren't a bit better, cause they actually look sharper in person..I also would like to add that they came out of the sand just as you see them..

I would also like to specially thank my supporters and believers and you all know who you are

God Bless and happy Hunting to you all !!!

[crusader234]

Great Coins!!!!!

[njal]

B.P. You are not kidding when you say they look better in person.
I should have CLIPPED a few when I had the chance!!
Just kidding.Thanks again for showing me those beauty's.

You did a very nice job on the write up and pictures.

I hope ya get a few more out of that yellow coin beach!

[dogpound]

those coins are amazing and certainly a find of a lifetime

[snf101480]

Those are so cool, I'm really happy for you man! What awesome finds, and a great story. I hope you have the chance to find some more at some point!

[carcur]

some great finds and a great history on the coins congrats on 3 gold coins
wonder how they got there and how many more are there

[itsaring!]

Thanks for posting! Those are some beauties.Napoleon however was butte uglyNothing says i love you better than a gold coin under your coil.Not sure on the France stuff here on the east coast? But after light storms i'll dig i think they were 10 francs in an area usually from 1947.Shipping routes,whatever ?Odd most foreign coins per average i found so far was France.Ones i find aren't gold or worth anything.Still always makes you wish a found item could talk! With all these bezel gold coins you see at beaches,you best like digging pulltab tones.I hunt to see how many nickels i can find.And i'm not wanting the nickels!LOL!

[deedee7]

great story,sure once in a lifetime,it was mean"t for you!!!! Hope I get a once in a lifetime too,,,,

[DougF]

Thanks for posting the story and pics.

[clgman001]

Oh If only those coins could talk. A spectacular find!

[Cfmct]

I'm sure you will come across some more BP... those are awesome looking

[Lineweed]

woah that's some cool find there! if you sell them I will fly over and punch your face It makes you wonder how they found their way to the beach right?

[bb_in_maine]

Ridiculously awesome finds. That Ceres is a *STUNNING* coin... Well done sir, not once but thrice!

[Spm673 (The Jersey Digger)]

You weren't kidding bro, those are awesome. Thanks for sharing. Someday I can hope...You made the featured...Something I cant seem to do...LOL

[Raphis]

BP, I'm glad you reposted these awesome finds!
Major congrats to you on finding the "holy grail" of coins!

HH,
Raphis
Dan

[melodyandoscar]

Ok, I am back now. I had to call 911 when I read the story and saw the pics. WOW what an awesome find!!

[PI JOE]

Big time congrats my friend! I didn't get to see them before.

[Mikeguard01]

WOW great finds. Thanks for reposting or I would have missed it.
HH
Mike

[sonnydigs]

Could never place a value on history..
Finds like that I would never part with..
Thanks for the look and the story..HH
SONNYDIGS

[kireta]

I dont like the saying (Once in a lifetime) as it is too final. I love the story and the coins, what an inspiration.