What is that famous saying, “Women: can’t live with them, can’t live without them.” But let us modify that statement a little for the contextual obligation we have towards the numismatic hobby. How about, women: making visually appealing and historic coin designs with them, can’t live without them? We tried, OK?
The point is, whether you realize it or not, women have made a significant contribution to coinage history all over the world. Their likeness has spanned generations on coins, medals, and more and we would be remiss not to recognize that. This series is designed to pay tribute to those women on the top 100 recognized by Whitman Publishing (and beyond) and the author of this phenomenal publication, Ron Guth. Without further ado, let us get started with one of the most famous women to ever come from the pre-revolutionary period of France.
#40 - Queen Marie Antoinette
Born Archduchess Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna in November of 1755, she was the youngest daughter of Austrian empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. At just the young age of 14, she married the son of King Louis XV in 1770. The people of France initially embraced the young Queen, but quickly became unfavorable towards her after several salacious rumors and mishandlings took place in her early years as a leader of the country.
Smear campaign after smear campaign obliterated any chance she had at painting herself in a positive light during her reign although some were rooted in fact, most were rumors. It did not help either that both the King and Queen spent money excessively even though the country of France was buried in substantial debt. Their spending ended up bankrupting the country, causing the people of France to rebel and abolish the monarchy. Marie Antoinette and her husband were left to the mercy of the people and both lost their heads to a guillotine in 1792. Although her ending was less than pleasing, she was and is known for her beauty, poise, and grace.
Traditionally speaking, numismatic history shows that many kings have honored their queens on coins. Louis XVI was not one of them. As a people of France, the queen’s existence would not have been known by simply looking at the coins that frequented their hands and their pockets. Although coins were out of the question, Queen Marie Antoinette did appear on several French medals with and without her husband. She also made an appearance on privately issued tokens and medals, including perhaps the most famous of them being the 1795 halfpenny token by Peter Skidmore of England. The token depicted conjoined busts of both Marie and her husband on the obverse while the reverse featured a guillotine with an empty basket waiting to catch her head.
In 1997, Austria released a 1,000-schilling gold coin with an obverse featuring Marie Antoinette in “all her finery.” The image seems to have been taken from a painting by Vigée Le Brun from 1783 entitled Marie Antoinette With the Rose. The reverse depicts Queen Marie at her Revolutionary trial where she defended herself again with a verdict of guilt.
On the collecting side of things, Guth rates the difficulty at a moderate level for the 1,000-schilling coin. Although common, he explains, it is expensive due to containing half an ounce of gold.