lf2021 - Le Franc d'Augustin Dupré THÉRET Philippe, BOURBON Xavier

Thanks to the timeless Republican types he designed, Augustin Dupré’s monetary works, which were used again throughout the French Second, Third and Fourth Republic, were handled by millions of French people over several generations and during almost two centuries. This numismatic monograph is the culmination of extensive work that brings together the contributions of professional numismatists, private collectors and research on all available records and archives from the Carnavalet-History of Paris Museum, the BnF, the Monnaie de Paris, the Art and Industry Museum in Saint-Etienne, the Blérancourt Franco-American Museum, the Arts Décoratifs Museum, the Dobrée Museum, the Geneva Art and History Museums, ANS (American Numismatic Society), American Philosophical Society, BPL (Boston Public Library).

All this together constitutes a content which - both for its precision and its richness - is unique to this day for this period of our French coinage. It comes supported by a body of archives, some of which were not brought to light again for over two centuries. The collected documents, be they paper documents (registers, letters, notes, etc.) or metal items (tools, trials strikes, proof strikes, coins, etc.), illustrate Augustin Dupré’s overall work. This book may be seen and read as a numismatics or history manual, or as an investigation work recounting the life of an exceptional man and the coins he designed. It also sheds light on the detailed organization of mints in that period and brings these forgotten stakeholders back to life. In addition, this book includes a new, unpublished classification of the updated prices of the coins Dupré engraved..