Lucky French Gold 20 Francs Angel BU

Lucky French Gold Angel

The legend of the Lucky Gold Angel tells us that the coin's designer, Augustus Dupré, was actually saved from the guillotine during the Reign of Terror in the mid-1790s by the lucky Angel coin in his pocket. Legend says that Dupré said a quick prayer as he knelt beneath the deadly guillotine blade. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck nearby, and in the ensuing panic, his execution was halted. Within six months, Dupré became a free man, and he forever after believed that he had been saved from certain death by the powers of his guardian Gold Angel.

By the mid-19th century, the Gold Angel's reputation for good luck was widespread. For example, Sea Captains seldom sailed without one on board and French pilots in WWI rarely took off without a Gold Angel coin in their kit - believing that this coin would protect them from the Red Baron and his deadly flying aces. During World War II, the chief of Hitler's Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering, became obsessed with these French Gold Angel coins. Confiscating all he could find, he presented them to ace German fighter pilots as rewards for every fifth Allied plane shot down. Minted from 1871 to 1898, these gold coins are genuine Legal Tender French 20 Francs and come from a newly discovered European bank hoard - where they have been preserved in Brilliant Uncirculated condition for over a century. In these uncertain times, who couldn't use a little Lucky Gold, eh??

• Minted from 1871-1898 (dates will vary)
• Gold weight: 0.1867 Troy Oz. (6.45 grams)
• 21 mm diameter
• Fineness: .900 Pure Gold