Ordered my first 40 franc gold coin from a French coin dealer about 12 days ago. It was the last one I needed for a complete set of every ruler and republican government from 1800 to the end of gold currency. All the others are 20 francs.

Most of the rest are from ebay, but the prices on the last and rarest one was just too high on ebay. I figured it might be my last chance to buy under $1900.

There’s still more to buy, as I’d like a French Tunisia 20 Francs, Austrian and Hungarian 20 Florins, and a Spanish 25 Peseta, which are all exactly the same size under the Latin Monetary Union. I already have similar but not identical sized gold coins from England, Holland, and the USA.

The cheapest of my 20 Francs was 8% below spot when gold was at $1200 using a combination of ebay promos and a cash back credit card. I think they are some of the best gold coins to have for investment, as a few of them can be found for no premium above spot and they are incredibly hard to counterfeit due to their small 0.1867 oz size and very elaborate design. Easy to buy and sell too, as a $380 coin is just more liquid than a $2100 1oz bar.

The two most common of the series is the French Rooster 20F and the Swiss Helvetia 20F which was still being made into the 1950s. Unfortunately you can’t find them at melt price, but when the market normalizes they’ll probably go back there.