The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1899-04-05
\ FIVE FRANC PIECE.
'oNG TttAf - rHe HOPE OF EVERY
CBEDUlOUs fRENCAMAN

The story "i NnpoIcon's Famous coin
and the iE,m.usr Fortune That Is
PopnInri, Heli.>cd Ia lie Conceal
ed Within IL
If Nun happen 10 hnve in yonr posses.
sion the particular French coin known
as a franc piece. you may unwilling
" he millionaire
Such. Mt ltast Is the belief she~ed "
hundreds upon thousands of credulous
Frenchmen aud frenehwomen, many
OF whom spend most Of their spare time
destroying quantities Of ! franc pieces
in the hope Of realizing fortune
DR. Marco Leonardo Nardez tho
well known uunismatiSt and ono of tho
recognized authorities ON coin lore.
speaking OF this curl condition of
affairs. said
at is quite trne that half France
still believes in tho existence of great
wealth hidden in franc piece, al
though mnnv numismatisis hold that
the fortune in question was long ago
discovered aud appropriated lay one of
the Rothsehila family
The story If the strange b frame
fortune legend may he briefly told. A
frame piece, Ia begin with ia silver
coin and is worth about Is II Napo.
leon | was very anxious 10 make the
coin popular one, and with this end
in view liz caused il To be circulated
everywhere throughout France that
he had inserted in one OF tho silver
pieces before it left the mint bank
note or order fol .0hO, 600 of these same
b francs roughly. about G200, 600
Whether he really did this or not can
not say fer certain, but the weight of
evidence would seem 10 show that it
was done
Tin the manuscript memoirs of tho
Due de Eeltie Napoleon 4 minister of
war, ii is expressly stated that the en-
peror inelused a uulo ON tho Bank of
France. duly signed by the governors If
that institution, in split frame piece,
That the halves were then welded to-
gether, partially remintcd and thrown
in II heap If similar coins, which the
emperor mixed with his own hands
These coins Napoleon took with him in
Il bag when ho went 10 Boulogne and
distributed lavishly en route, even drop.
ping soma of them out Of his carriage
windows. In this way il was impossible
to keep track of the lucky coin
"The news Of this odd lottery spread
far and wide, and tho ) franc piece
ltmped into Immediate favor. From
that day 10 this mutiation Of tho coin
hua boon IA Erunga AXNtt Iat
land Belgium and elsewhere Every
year the Bank Of France is requested to
make COED scores If pieces split III
vain search fer tho b 000. 000 frame
bank note
"Thero are many stories dealing with
roputed finds of tho fortune Indeed
when Il man becomes suddenly rich III
| Franco ii il common 10 hear people
| whisper, Tie must have found Napo-
| leon Ednuus coin
Some assert that the emperor kept
the coin himself. bat this hardly ngrecs
with Napoleon character still il is n
current theory that some Of the money
which enabled Napoleon III 10 reach
tho imperial throne was found in the
lucky silver piece. which his mother,
Queen liurltnsa had wheedled ont Of
her brother in law
1t WINS also common talk that Cen
cral BoulanRer had acquired the famous
coin until the discovery that his money
supplies came from the Duchess d tizes
set that belief nj rest
"The most likely explanation as TO
why the ! frame piece fails to turn up
il that Baron Ferdinand dc Rothschild.
French member Of tho great Jewish
banking house secured it hisaccount
states that Baron dc ROthschild, having
Investigated the tradition and found
sufficient proof OF its truth. deliberate
ly set TO work to locate the note
lie quietly bought in and collected
every 3 franc piece ho could get and
his agents were notified 10 preserve and
forward 10 Paris every franc piece
which reached them in Europe Asia,
Africa or America In bis Office the
baron kept three trusty men hard at
work biHccling the coins.
Some say that he had invented
plan for welding them together again,
20 as to defy detection others maintain
that he melted down the silver and
sold ii 10 the government en- bloc Tho
work was colossal but in the end tho
baron ) sytem Is said to have conquered.
He found The note for 5000, 600
francs, having spent nearly 900, 900 to
obtain it The order was duly presented
at the Bank Of FIauce aud oashed by
that institution
ttliIunsitls - tina