THE FRENCH COLLECTION CONSIGNOR PREFACE

In 1984 I was the successful bidder in an auction, buying an 1851A Ceres Head 5 Francs, lot number 234 in this catalog. That purchase inspired me to begin collecting French coins.

I was familiar with collecting by type and used Victor Gadoury's Monnaies Francaises catalog as the reference for my Decimal Type Set.

I met Wade Hinderling, my mentor, in 1988. I told him I wanted to collect a high grade French Decimal Type Set. He took it from there. Wade recommended not including coins minted after about 1940 because they are common.

Wade understands that coins which are high grade and important create notable collections. This collection reflects both his knowledge of French coinage and his expertise as a professional numismatist and would not exist were it not for his painstaking efforts. He selected most of the coins in this catalog.

Every collector has their favorite design and mine is the Ceres Head. I told Wade about my passion for Ceres Head coinage and he fed my passion, finding rare Ceres Head coins in high grade, most notably the 1849 5 Francs in gold (lot #222), Oudine's 1848 Design Competition 5 Francs in silver (lot #214), the set of 1848 Competition 5 Francs in white metal (lot #s 188 - 221), most of the coins in the Ceres Head 5 Francs business strike set (various lot #s) among many others.

 
Lot 222

When I first saw the Semeuse design it reminded me of the US Liberty Walking half dollar, one of America's most beautiful coins. At the time the circulating silver Semeuse coins from 1898 to 1920 were relatively inexpensive, even in gem condition. My collection includes complete date sets of 50 Centimes, 1 and 2 Francs in addition to a number of important Semeuse silver and gold Essais.

I have often wondered why I was so fortunate that Wade offered me coins he could have sold to other clients, dealers or even consigned to auction? Lucky, lucky me!

1) Wade is the source for 513 of the 521 lots in this catalog and most of the important coins.

2) of the 521 lots, 232 are top pop!

3) 217 of the top pop lots came from Wade!

As Wade was building the Decimal Type Set he added coins from the Revolutionary Period and early 19th century Napoleonic coins from countries Napoleon ruled, thus the collection's name, France & Napoleonides.

I did not realize how important this collection is until Nicolas Gimbert expressed his enthusiasm.

I'm extremely honored that Nicolas and his company, MDC Monnaies de Collection, are presenting my collection in its own catalog. The catalog is a tribute to Wade Hinderling who contributed most of the coins to the collection.

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