30 Soldo France

1801, Cisalpine Republic (Napoleonic State). Silver 30 Soldi Coin

Mint Place: Milan

Denomination: 30 Soldi

Mint Year: 1801 (Year IX)

Reference: Pagani-9, KM-1 ($450 in MS!). R!

State: Cisalpine Republic (created by Napoleon as a French client state.)

Material: Silver (.684)

Diameter: 29mm

Weight: 7.17gm

Obverse: Wreathed and draped female bust (personification of the Cisalpine Republic) right.

Legend: REPVBBLICA – CISALPINA .

Exergue: SOLDI . 30 .

Reverse: Legend in six lines.

Legend: PACE CELEBRATA . FORO BONAPARTE FONDATO . ANNO IX .

During its occupation of neighboring parts of Europe during the French Revolutionary Wars, France established republican regimes in these territories. The French Republic claimed to support the spread of the republican principles in Europe, but most of these client republics, or sister republics, were in fact a means of controlling the occupied lands through a mix of French and local control. The republics typically based their existence on the presence of French troops; on the other side, the French administration often ruled with the only purpose of draining as many resources (food, money and soldiers) as possible for the benefit of France. The institution of republican governments, promoting nationality over the rule of the royal families (Bourbons, Habsburgs) set the stage for the appearance of nationalist sentiment in all Europe, which significantly influenced the course of European history (see 1830 and Revolutions of 1848).

The Cisalpine Republic (Repubblica Cisalpina) was a French client republic in Northern Italy that lasted from 1797 to 1802. After the Battle of Lodi, in May 1796, the French general Napoleon Bonaparte proceeded to organize two states — one on the south of the Po River, the Cispadane Republic, and one on the north, the Transpadane Republic. These two along with the province of Novara were merged into the Cisalpine Republic on June 29, 1797, with capital Milan. Austria acknowledged the new entity in the Treaty of Campoformio of October 17 of the same year, gaining in exchange what remained of the Venetian Republic.