Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1899-04-26
A FIVE FRANC PIECE.
ONE THAT is THE HOPE OF EVERY
CREOULOUS FReNCHMAN.

The Story of NnpoIeon'n Famous Coin
and The Immense Fortune That Is
Popularity Believed 10 BE Conceal
ed Within II.
If you happen to have in Your posses
sion the particular French coin known
as franc piece, you may unwilling
Y be q millionaire
Such. at least. IS the belief shared by
hundreds upon thousands of credulous
Freuchmon and Frenchwomen, many
Of whom spend most Of their spare time
destroying Quantities of o franc pieces
In the hope of realizing q fortune
m. MarcoLeonardo Nardez. the
VOL known numismatist and enc of the
recognized authorities on coin lore,
speaking Of this curious condition Of
Affairs, said:
1T is quite true that half France
sui believes IN the existence Of great
wealth hidden in 9 franc piece al-
though many numismatists hold that
the fortune in question was long ago
discovered and appropriated by one Of
tho Rottschild family.
The story Of the strange . franc
fortune legend may be briefly told A 8
frame piece. TO begin with. is silver
coin, and is worth about As Cd. Napo-
leon I was very anxious 70 make the
coin "a popular one. and with this end
in view he caused 1t to be circulated
everywhere throughout France that
he had inserted in one Of the silver
pieces before 1t left the mint bank
note or order for l, 600, 900 Of these same
francs-roughly, about goo 600
Whether he really did thisor not can
not say for certain, but the weight of
evidence would seem to show that it
was done
In the. manuscript memoirs Of the
Due de Feltie, Napoleon's minister Of
war, it is expressly stated that the en-
peror inclosed note or the Bank of
France, duly signed by the governors of
that institution in split franc piece;
that the halves We're then welded to-
gether. partially reminted and thrown
in heap of similar coins, which the
emperor mixed with his own hands.
These coins Napoleon took with him in
q bag when he went 10 Boulogne and
distributed lavishly en- route, even drop
ping some OF them out Of his carriage
windows. In this way it was impossible
to keep track of the lucky coin.
"The news Of this odd lottery spread
far and wide and the 8 franc piece
leaped into immediate favor. From
that day to this mutilation of the coin
has been common in France, Switzer-
land. Belgium and elsewhere. Every
year the Bank of France is requested to
make good scores Of pieces split in a
vain search for the 5000 600 franc
bank note.
There are many stories dealing with
reputed finds of the fortune Indeed
when man becomes suddenly rich in
France it is common to hear people
whisper. He must have found Napo-
Icons famous coin.
"Some assert that the emperor kept
the coin himself, but this hardly agrees
with Napoleon's character. Still it Is a
current theory that some Of the money
which enabled Napoleon III to reach
the imperial throne was found in the
lucky silver piece, which his mother.
Queen Hortense, had wheedled out Of
her brotherin-law
at was also common talk that Cen
eral Boulanger had acquired the famous
coin until the discovery that his money
supplies came from the Duchess d Ozes
set that belief at rest
'~The most likely explanation as to
why the 8 franc piece fails to turn up
Is that Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild,
French member Of the great Jewish
banking house, secured it. Thisaccount
states that Baron de Rothschild. having
investigated the tradition and found
sufficient proof of its truth, deliberate
~ set to work to locate the note,
'sHe quietly bought in and collected
every franc piece he could get, and
Ms,agents were notified to preserve and
forward to Paris every franc piece
which reached them in Europe, Asia,
Africa or America In his Office the
baron kept three trusty men hard at
work bisectlng the coins
''Some say that he had invented
plan FOR welding them together again,
SO as to defy detection; others maintain
shat be melted down the silver and
sold It TO the government en- bloc The
work was colossal, but IN the end the
baron 5 syte1n is said to have conquered
''He found the note for 5000, 600
francs having spent nearly 1000, 900 to
obtain it The order was duly presented
at the Bank of France and cashed by
that institution
Plausible as this narration may
seem, the great mass Of Frenchmen re-
fuse to credit il, and 60 on, year after
year. splitting open their 8 franc pieces
to look for Napoleon's note. 1t Is GER
tainly a tantalizing thought that some
where in the world a check for e9OO.-
600 is knocking about hidden in an or
binary silver coin worth less than shil-
lings "-Pearson S Weekly.
Explained.