Le e-FRANC

Lorsqu'on commence une collection de monnaies, souvent, on ignore tout de leur histoire, de leurs caractéristiques, de leurs raretés et de leurs cotes. Afin de permettre au débutant d'obtenir des informations rapides et pertinentes sur la valeur des monnaies, les Éditions Les Chevau-légers ont édité en 1995 le FRANC avec la ferme intention d'aider le collectionneur à mieux collectionner, en lui apportant les réponses aux questions
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Le e-FRANC est certes la version numérique et condensée de la version papier du FRANC 10 mais il représente surtout une synthèse de l'information numismatique moderne française actuellement disponible sur le net. L'accès est 100% gratuit et illimité... n'attendez plus, venez le tester ! Véritable tableau de bord des monnaies en francs (1795-2001), il vous orientera évidemment vers les cotes actualisées du FRANC 10 ...
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"La Numismatique, c'est une vaste discipline à remonter le temps. Quand on visite ce site pour le première fois, tout n'est pas compréhensible, mais le voyage dans le temps a déjà commencé...". Ainsi commençaient les premières lignes d'introduction du FRANC I... Se familiariser avec le e-FRANC est un exercice aussi facile que d'utiliser le FRANC. Prenez votre pièce en main et suivez le guide ! Vous allez ...
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Grâce au e-FRANC, vous allez peut-être commencer une collection de monnaies. Voici quelques conseils généraux qui vous seront utiles dans votre (nouvelle) vie de collectionneur. Commencer une collection de monnaies c'est avant toute chose vouloir illustrer en monnaies une période de l'histoire, regrouper ce qui a circulé dans une ville ou une région ou simplement retrouver ce que vos ancêtres avaient d'abord dans leur bourse, ensuite ...
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LE FRANC represents a serious attempt to apply American grading standards to French coins, and assign realistic corresponding market values. It is no secret that a great number of French coins are of greater rarity in mint state than similar coins of other countries. Le FRANC endeavors to provide market prices for French coins in choice mint state that were simply unavailable (when available at all) at the unrealistic levels listed in previous publications. It is hoped that the high prices listed for French coins in choice uncirculated condition will inspire the domestic French market to be more discerning in their grading. This book is an open challenge to French numismatists for them to examine modern (say, coins of Louis XIII to date) coins with American eyes. This is not to say that they should take American certified grading as an absolute standard. On the contrary, such grading has been shown to be wildly erratic and undependable. Collectors should learn for themselves how to grade as best they can, and use their own eyes.
For years, many American collectors of French coins have baffled French dealers with their seemingly arbitrary grading whims. The reason for this lies not with any fault in the French, but rather with numismatics in the United States. Very few American coins are of real absolute rarity. The vast American collector market focuses, therefore, on quality. The large number of American coins minted permits the American collector to be very selective: he is very demanding when it comes to grade of preservation. To call a coin "nice uncirculated" isn't enough. The American collector wants to know: not just how nice, but exactly how nice. This has led to the numerical mint state grading system which has caused so much confusion in other countries. Many French coins are so rare in high grade that not enough of them have been on the market for there to be a set price structure. A coin described as "SUP à FDC" could well be the finest anyone has seen in years of a given issue, and therefore no one in France asks if it would be the equivalent of an American AU-58 or an American MS-65. The fact is, however, that it does matter.
The world is getting smaller, and contact among numismatists of all countries will only increase. French coins are enormously popular in the United States and Japan, as well as to a lesser degree in Germany, China and Russia. The huge price swings in American coins, depending on their grade, is practically universally known. These price swings do not yet exist in the domestic market for French coins. It is only a question of time before this situation changes. The internet has been a factor of great influence here. Our own site, www.HA.com, gets close to one million unique visits each month. Collecting is not a small niche any more. People can follow our auctions live in real time from anywhere in the world now, and we no longer the only ones in numismatics to offer this. Even mail bid auctions, such as those of our French colleagues at cgb.fr, offer detailed scans of coins so that informed collectors can form accurate images of coins without necessarily having viewed them personally before bidding. Being able to discern small differences in quality is no longer exclusively the domain of those who have viewed an auction in person, although that is always the best of all alternatives.
The market in the United States has already adapted its own standards to its pricing for high quality French coins. Small increases in the quality of an uncirculated coin can mean a large increase in that coin's price. French dealers will note this and take advantage of it, if only for purely economic reasons. French collectors will soon do likewise, or else watch their best coins go into collections in other countries. This book, by French numismatists familiar with American coins and the American coin market, is an attempt to bring the future of French numismatics a little closer. Its intention is to put the domestic French market on an equal footing with its American counterpart and show, to quote Marvin Gaye, "what's goin' on."

Respectfully submitted

Marc D. Emory

Director of Overseas Operations

Heritage Rare Coin Galleries

Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.

2014 est une année importante pour le FRANC qui entre dans sa vingtième année. Cette dixième édition se devait donc d’être différente des précédentes pour célébrer comme il se doit cet anniversaire.   Tout au long des neuf précédentes éditions, nous nous sommes aperçus que de nombreux collectionneurs considéraient certains types absents du FRANC comme légitimes ...
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