By Mark Fox Last year, from Aug. 5 to Sept. 24, the European auction house Compagnie Générale de Bourse (CGB) offered collec- tors the rare chance to own a Mint State 1943 French franc, born in far-off Algeria amid the darkest days of World War II. Bidders responded to CGB’s Monnaies 40 mail bid sale with a hammer price of €7,400. This was €400 above estimate and does not include a 12 percent buyer’s fee. Monnaies 40 featured coins exclusively from the col- lection of Bernard W. Southgate IV. Noted numismatist Michel Prieur, co- manager of CGB/CGF, had much to say about this unusual French rarity, based on the Morlon design, but known to French collectors as the aluminum Graziani franc. This can be misleading. There are, for instance, more articles written about the coins of obscure Roman emperors who lived over 1,500 years before than there are about Graziani francs. But Monsieur Prieur insists that Graziani francs are no less important or fascinating. Why are they special? “Because the Graziani franc is a legal tender coin and the very only legal tender coin struck by the Free French for France before the Nazis were defeated, and it is a type coin and it is one of the rarest types in franc coins 1795-2001, said Prieur. “Let’s put it this way: either you have a Graziani coin in your collection and you are at the top, or you don’t and, well, your collection is not at the top. The equivalent in rarity and historical importance, if a U.S. coin, would probably fetch $400,000 in BU.” Obviously, Monsieur Prieur thinks rather highly of Graziani francs. Enter the Southgate Collection Bernard W. Southgate IV is a retired bankruptcy attorney currently living in southwest Florida. His interest in French literature and history inspired him to assemble a comprehensive collection of modern French coinage, officially dubbed the Platoad Collection. Platoad is not a French or Greek word. Nothing that humor- less. Rather, Southgate named his immense group of coins in honor of a pet toad owned by his daughter, Victoria Southgate. The collector had hoped someone in the family would continue the collection after him, but, to his amazement and disap- pointment, no family member shared his “peculiar” interest in French coins. It was decided that “rather than have them wait until my departure to decide what to do with so large a collection, it would be best for me to arrange for its sale,” said Southgate. “CGB/CGF is the only numismatic group that I considered. I have had a fairly long- time relationship with Monsieur Prieur and found him knowledgeable, of unimpeach- able integrity and shares my reverence for la gloire de la France.” The CGB auctioneers noted this was the first time “that French numismatists man- aged to bring back from the USA such an important and complete French collection.” Besides the Graziani franc, graded MS-63, 1 some other Platoad Collection highlights included a toned MS-64 1859-A Napoleon III 2 francs, one of 886 minted, and an EF- 58 1939 Turin 20 francs. The collection was particularly strong in Louis XVI regal coin- age and almost complete from 1848–2001, a rare feat for any collector. Free France’s fighting franc The circumstances behind the minting of the Graziani francs are a complicated mixture of war, politics and necessity. “To understand the coin,” explained Southgate, “one must understand the French situation after the German occupation in 1940. France was defeated militarily, but one General, Charles De Gaulle, insisted and convinced the French people that the French army may have been defeated but France would never be defeated.” The general accomplished this through his famous L’Appel du 18 Juin and later BBC radio broadcasts in London. Of course, it is one thing to be the voice of the Free French and the French Resistance, and quite another to actually lead them. Southgate pointed out that after the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942, “there were three main contenders for leader- ship of the Free French: Admiral Darlan, the favorite of Franklin Roosevelt (even though Darlan had been a high official in the Nazi puppet government of the Vichy State); General Giraud, who was favored by Churchill; and General Charles De Gaulle, who was overwhelmingly favored by the Free French army and the loyalist members of the French populist. Darlan was assas- sinated by a French royalist in December 1942 leaving De Gaulle and Giraud as the sole contenders. To mollify the Allies there was an agreement that the two generals share leadership. Giraud gracefully faded into the background.” Eager to supply the Free French with coins of their own, De Gaulle urged the French Committee of National Liberation (FCNL) to issue an ordinance on Aug. 26, 1943, to mint coins based on the types of the Third Republic. “This production, unfortunately for numismatics,” continued Southgate, 2 “was limited to the production of a 1 franc piece as a pre-series in zinc and aluminum for lack of other metals, under the direction of Maurice Couve de Murville. A strik- ing of pieces of 2 francs and 50 centimes was also proposed, all to be struck at a later date when their designs would have been established. The ordinance proposed striking the coins in aluminum-bronze. It was signed by General Charles De Gaulle, General Henri Giraud, Maurice Couve de Murville and J. Abadie…” The last three signatories held the posts of Commissioner of Justice, National Education, 3 and Public Health, respectively. One of the central mysteries surround- ing the Graziani francs concerns the iden- tity of the shadowy engraver for whom the coins are named. According to Southgate, even his first name is unknown. He says Graziani, “rather than developing a new design, roughly copied the 1 franc piece by Morlon that had been struck in alumi- num-bronze from 1931-1941 and then in aluminum in 1941 (and would be struck in aluminum from 1944-1959). The portrait of Marianne in the Graziani piece is usu- ally characterized as “plus severe” than the Morlon coins. It is easily distinguishable.” Of whom the Free France engraver was, Michel Prieur takes a surprisingly different approach. “Actually, nobody knows for sure and Bernard Southgate’s quote that nobody knew the first name of Graziani might find its explanation in the following: to the best of my knowledge, Graziani has no first name because, unlike normal coin engravers, it is not a man, it is a company,” said Prieur. “There was in Algiers, during WWII, a Graziani company making mili- tary badges and I believe this is the Graziani which made the coins. Unfortunately, I never could find any confirmation and the company closed down in 1962, probably leaving all archives, if any remained from WWII, there.” Rare WWII franc stirs memories of French valor The obverse and reverse of the aluminum 1943 Graziani franc from the Platoad Collection of Bernard W. Southgate IV. It sold for €7,400 (plus a 12 percent buyer’s fee) in Lot 1891 of Générale de Bourse’s (CGB’s) Monnaies 40 mail bid sale in 2009. (Image courtesy CGB, www.cgb.fr.) An aluminum Graziani franc trial strike, from the Carl F. Chirico Jr. Collection of World Pattern Coins. The hammer price was $8,740 (plus a 15 percent buyer’s fee) in Session Four, Lot 5258 of Bowers and Merena’s February 2008 Baltimore Auction. (Photos courtesy Bowers and Merena Auctions, www.bowersandmerena.com.) 56 World Coin News / April 2010