NAPOLEON III - SEDAN september 1870 - Lot 473

NAPOLEON III - SEDAN september 1870 Head of Napoleon III countermarked with the word SEDAN. R/. Imperial coat of arms. 5 Centimes (bare head) copper 1855 Paris (4.69 g) 1 Franc silver (laurel head) 1866 Paris (9.68 g) Two satirical coins. Fine. The battle of Sedan (Ardennes) on September 1, 1870 was a French defeat in the 1870 war. It pitted the French army, known as the Armée de Châlons, made up of 120,000 French soldiers and 560 cannons under the command of Marshal Patrice de Mac Mahon and Napoleon III, against more than 200,000 German soldiers and 780 cannons under General Helmuth von Moltke and the future William I of Prussia. It led to the fall of the Empire and the captivity of Napoleon III. On September 3, 1870, Napoleon III was captured by the Prussians and taken prisoner at Wilhelmshöhe Castle. Gambetta and Jules Simon proclaim the Republic. A provisional government is formed under the name Gouvernement de Défense Nationale. After the defeat at Sedan, satirical coins are minted by opponents. See Christian Schweyer's "Histoire des Monnaies Satiriques".