Coin Pièce France 50 centimes Silver Napoléon III 1867 BB Strasbourg

This 50 centimes coin was issued in 1867 during the reign of Napoleon III, as part of the monetary series of the French Second Empire. It was struck at the Strasbourg Mint, identifiable by the BB mint mark present on the coin.

The obverse of this coin features the portrait of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, depicted according to the iconographic conventions of the time, with a laureate or bust effigy, accompanied by the imperial legend. The reverse displays the face value of 50 centimes along with the symbolic attributes of the Second Empire, including the imperial eagle or the laurel crown, framed by the legal inscriptions and the year of minting.

This coin is composed of silver with a fineness of 835 thousandths, corresponding to an alloy containing 83.5% pure silver. It has a weight of 2.5 grams and a diameter of 18 millimetres, metric characteristics in accordance with the monetary standards defined by the Latin Monetary Union Convention, to which France was a signatory.

The Strasbourg Mint, one of the most important mints in France during the 19th century, produced numerous coin series under the Second Empire. The coins struck in 1867 belong to a period of relative monetary stability, marked by the regular production of silver divisional coins intended for everyday circulation. The BB mint mark makes it possible to identify with certainty the Strasbourg origin of this striking, which is an important element for collectors and historians of 19th-century French numismatics.