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View Full Version : Are French "Angel" Gold Coins Widely Recognized ?


gunDriller
17th July 2010, 04:04 PM
http://www.amergold.com/vault/images/French20FrancAngelO.jpg

http://www.amergold.com/vault/images/French20FrancAngelR.jpg

These are .1867 ounce coins like the French Rooster and the 20 Franc Swiss gold coins.

I was wondering if these Angel coins are as well known as those other 2 or if this is a more obscure coin collector kind of gold.
1970 silver art
17th July 2010, 04:15 PM
I think these are just gold coins that are bought by collectors and are not as widely recognized but I could be wrong on this. These type of gold coins might possibly have a low premium over melt value since they are not as recognized as regular gold bullion such as GAE's and Canadian Maples but I could be wrong on this because there are collectors coins that have very high premiums on them.
gunDriller
18th July 2010, 05:51 AM
Amergold.com has an interesting explanation. But they're trying to sell them -
http://www.amergold.com/vault/20FrancGoldAngels.php

"Almost from the beginning, gold Angels were regarded as lucky. Their legend began during the Reign of Terror in the mid-1790s, when the coin's designer, Augustus Dupre, claimed to have been saved from the guillotine by the lucky Angel coin in his pocket. According to legend, Dupre said a quick prayer as he knelt beneath the deadly blade. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck nearby, igniting a panic that halted his execution. Within six months Dupre was a free man, believing forever after that he was saved from certain death by the protective powers of his guardian gold Angel.

By the mid-19th century, the Angel's reputation for good luck was firmly entrenched. Captains seldom went to sea without one. French pilots inWorld War I rarely took flight without a gold Angel coin in their kit, believing it would protect them from the Red Baron and his aces. During World War II, the chief of Hitler's Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering, became obsessed with these French angel coins. Confiscating all he could find, he presented them to ace German fighter pilots as rewards for every fifth Allied plane shot down. "