In 1848, revolutions erupted across Europe, including France. Louis Philippe I abdicated and the Second Republic was declared. Louis-Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew, was elected President. Under the Constitution of the Second Republic, the president was limited to a single term of four years.

Faced with leaving office in 1852, Louis-Napoleon he staged a coup that gave him a 10-year term. In 1852, he was declared Emperor and the Second Republic was dissolved.

Coinage of the Second Republic used the same motifs of the First Republic, except for the Ceres which was the product of a competition in 1848.