Kingdom of Westphalia

Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon I’s brother, was King of Westphalia from 1807-1813. The Kingdom was created by Napoleon I from territories he had conquered. In October 1813, the Kingdom of Westphalia was dissolved and in 1815 the territory was absorbed into Prussia.

Two types of coinage were minted in the King of Westphalia: francs according to the decimalized French standard, and thalers under the non-decimilized local standard.

Circulation Coins

Underlined text links to Numista

Certain images are clickable for more detail

Coins are either minted in Cassel, Westphalia (“C”) or in Paris (“J” mint mark). The mint quality is relatively low and even the top coins have notable imperfections. Mintage is low, about 5k for the 40 franken, 40k for the 20 franken, 2k for the 10 franken, and 2k for the gold 5 franken. Mintage data for the silver denominations is unavailable.

An excellent write-up on Jérôme and his coinage is La Moneta forum by the user lorluke (here).

Restrikes exist for the 5, 10, and 20 franken coins. About 80 restrikes were minted in 1867 (see Gadoury 2023, p. 679). These restrikes have the “J” mint mark and smooth edges.

40 Franken

1813
(Image: Gadoury Oct 2023)

20 Franken

1808-1813
(Image: MDC Oct 2023)

<Finest Examples - 20 Franken>

The Westphalia 20 franken a LMU 20 franc types with lowest mintages. It was minted in Cassel (“C” mint mark) and Paris (“J” mint mark), the mintages, per Krause, are:

1808C - 13,404
1808J - Unstated
1809C - 9,104
1809J - Unstated
1811C - 18,903
1813C - Unstated

Based on the survivorship, it appears that most of the 1811Cs were melted down. The “J” mint marks are mostly restrikes from the 1860s, though at least a couple are apparently original strikes (lettered edge).

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[Pending / In progress - figuring out which are restrikes (several mis-slabbed)]

NGC:
1808C: MS66 x1 MS64 x1
1808J (Restrike): MS65 x1, MS64 x2, MS63+ x1

Proofs:
1808J PF: PF63 x1 (Cam); PF66 x1, PF65 x1, PF64 x1, PF63 x1 Restrike?
1808J: PF65 x1, PF63 x1 Restrike?

1809C: MS64 x1, MS63 x2, MS62 x4, MS61 x1
1809J: MS62 x1
1811C: MS62 x1

PCGS:
1808C: MS62 x1
1808J: MS64 x2, MS62 x1- not restrike (lettered) (The MS62 actually restrike?)

Proofs:
1808J PF Plain Edge: PF64 Restrike
1808J PF: PF65x1 Restrike?