What is the value of a 10 Francs TURIN silver coin today?
10 Francs TURIN price history
Intrinsic value based on the silver price
How much does a 10 Francs TURIN silver coin weigh?
The 10 Francs TURIN coin has a total weight of 10.0000 grams. This weight includes the coin's complete alloy.
Taking its purity of 680‰ (68.0%) into account, this coin contains exactly 6.8000 grams of pure silver.
What is the purity of a 10 Francs TURIN silver coin?
The 10 Francs TURIN coin has a purity of 680 thousandths, i.e. 68.0% fine silver.
This purity is characteristic of coins struck in France between 1929-1939. The rest of the alloy (32.0%) is generally composed of copper to strengthen the coin's durability.
Obverse
The obverse features the bare and idealized bust of a young man turned to the left, embodying the allegorical figure of the French Republic. This portrait, of great classical purity, is the work of the engraver Joseph-Émile Dropsy, who affixes his signature (in full or by initials depending on the year) at the bottom of the coin.
Artistic characteristics and attribution
Inscriptions and legend: The inscription RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE runs in an arc around the bust, while the year of minting appears at the bottom of the field.
Classical inspiration: Dropsy draws directly from the canons of ancient Greek sculpture to model this male effigy, breaking away from the conventional style of his era.
Origin of the name: The popular designation "Turin" refers to the sculptor and medallist Joseph-Marius Turin, who collaborated on the coin type, even though Joseph-Émile Dropsy remains the principal engraver of the portrait. This distinctive style has become the standard designation for the model in the numismatic market.
Reverse
The reverse features the face value 10 F inscribed in the centre, framed by the year of issue and surrounded by the republican motto LIBERTÉ ÉGALITÉ FRATERNITÉ. The whole is encircled by a wreath composed of oak and olive leaves, major symbols of republican strength and peace.
Mint marks and numismatic reference points
Minting facilities: The majority of production comes from the Paris mint, although other mints were called upon depending on the year. The mint letter is located at the bottom of the field, directly below the date.
Privy marks: The marks of the chief engraver and the mint director are placed in the field or below the edge. They prove crucial for dating the strike precisely and identifying die varieties.
Collector interest: While the beginner investor often focuses solely on the metal weight, the precision of these privy marks makes it possible to isolate rare series or specific issues sought after in numismatics.
Versions and mintage
10 Francs TURIN
History of the 10 Francs Turin Coin
The 10 Francs Turin is a French silver coin issued under the Third Republic. Its minting began in 1929 and continued until 1939, spanning a decade marked by the global economic crisis and the monetary turbulences of the thirties. It succeeds other 10 francs silver issues in the French republican tradition, in a context where confidence in paper money was beginning to seriously erode.
Technical characteristics and monetary context
Metal and fineness: Silver at 680 thousandths (i.e. 68% pure silver, the remainder being copper).
Dimensions and weight: Total weight of 10 grams, for approximately 6.8 grams of fine silver. Its diameter is 28 millimetres and its edge is reeded.
Late Latin standard: France was then experiencing severe inflation inherited from the First World War. The fineness of 680 ‰ represented a compromise between the need to keep a coin in circulation and the budgetary constraints of the State (lower than the 900 ‰ of the old Latin Union coins).
Mints and end of series: Production spread across several mints (mainly Paris) with highly variable volumes depending on the year. Withdrawn from circulation at the outbreak of the Second World War, it ceased to be legal tender through the post-war reforms.
Price trends of the 10 Francs Turin coin over the past twenty years
The value of a 10 Francs Turin rests on two components that must be clearly distinguished: the metal value on the one hand, and the numismatic premium on the other. With approximately 6.8 grams of fine silver per coin, the impact of fluctuations in the silver price remains limited in absolute terms.
Market dynamics and condition
Impact of the silver price: Between 2005 and 2011, the surge in the grey metal (rising from ~$7 to nearly $48/oz in April 2011) mechanically pushed the value of the Turin upward, before falling back and then following the general trend.
The numismatic component: For examples in fine condition, particularly less-struck dates or specific varieties, the premium over the metal weight can be very significant.
Valuation: Common examples in ordinary circulated condition (F to VF) trade at a modest premium above metal, while a Fleur de Coin example of a rare date reaches considerably higher values.
Why invest in the 10 Francs Turin coin?
To be straightforward: the 10 Francs Turin is not a pure investment coin in the sense understood by precious metals investors today. Its fine silver content is too low to make it as effective a tool for wealth diversification against inflation as a Maple Leaf or a one-ounce Philharmoniker.
Real interests and use cases
Numismatic collecting: The beauty of the Art Deco type, the variety of dates and the history of the coin make it a very appealing collector's item, with certain short-run dates being actively sought after.
Building a historical heritage: Combined with other French coins from the interwar period, it allows the formation of a coherent and tangible ensemble bearing witness to French monetary history.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the 10 Francs Turin occupy a central place in French monetary history of the 20th century?
Created in 1929 by engraver Pierre Turin, the 10 Francs Turin coin embodies the renewal of the French monetary system under the Third Republic following the devaluation of the Franc Germinal by Raymond Poincaré.
It is the very first silver circulation coin issued by France after the First World War. Its innovative Art Deco style (the Republic wearing the Phrygian cap and the wheat ears on the reverse) breaks definitively with the visual codes of the 19th century.
What distinguishes the 10 Francs Turin from the 20 Francs Turin?
Although both coins share an identical aesthetic and a silver alloy fineness of 680 ‰, the 10 Francs Turin is a smaller module and twice as light.
With a gross weight of 10 grams (containing 6.8 grams of pure silver), it was struck in nearly 240 million examples between 1929 and 1939, making it a significantly more abundant and popular coin in the French monetary landscape than its larger sister, the 20 Francs TURIN.
What are the most sought-after years or variants among collectors for the 10 Francs Turin?
While high-mintage dates (such as 1929, 1930 or 1933) trade primarily at the raw silver price, certain years and variants reach high catalogue values:
10 Francs Turin 1939: The last date in the series, struck in a more limited mintage just before the outbreak of World War II.
10 Francs Turin 1936: Produced in a significantly lower mintage than the early years of issue.
Die varieties: Examples featuring rare details, such as large-leaf branches or certain specific die cracks, are in high numismatic demand in mint state (FDC/BU).
What is the appeal of the 10 Francs Turin for an investor looking to buy physical silver?
The 10 Francs Turin is an excellent choice for splitting a silver metal portfolio.
Benefiting from historical renown in France and Europe, this coin trades with a very low premium relative to the silver spot price.
Its small unit value makes it very easy to liquidate small amounts of savings or to accumulate physical metal in the form of historical coins that are easy to store and trade.
Similar coins
