Aluminum coin of 20 French francs from 1857 depicting a portrait of Napoleon III, patron of the research of aluminum production in France
Switzerland is a hub for commodity trading. Did you know that this activity represents 4% of Swiss GDP, and even 22% of tax revenue for the canton of Geneva This week, we are discussing the topic of aluminium. We will wonder why Napoleon III favored aluminum? We will examine what Jules Verne wrote about this element in his book The Eternal Adam, circa 1900. This also gives us the opportunity to admire: Essai en aluminum de 20 francs or Napoléon III, tête nue 1857.
Why Napoleon III did he prefer aluminum?
In 1854, at the Academy of Sciences in Paris, the French chemist Henri Étienne Saint-Claire Deville announced a method to produce this element industrially for a much lower price.
For Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, it was a “white and unalterable metal like silver, which does not blacken in the air, which is fusible, malleable, ductile and tenacious”. Napoleon III then promised him an unlimited grant for his research.
According to Drozdov’s book, the emperor gave Deville an unlimited grant to work on aluminum. The author reports that Deville would have used 36,000 francs, the annual income of the average French family was 2,000 francs at the time.
Jewelry begins to be made of aluminum. Crown Prince Louis-Napoleon’s baby rattle is said to have been made from this metal. Drozdov mentions that it was not uncommon to see ladies and dignitaries wearing aluminum buttons and ornaments instead of gold. The emperor showed his “lavish” aluminum plates and crockery to visiting rulers – the “lesser” gold crockery was reserved for them.
Napoleon’s interest in this element lay in its potential military use: he wanted the weapons, helmets, armor and other equipment of the French army to be made from this new, light and shiny metal.
Jules Verne and The Eternal Adam (circa 1900)
In his book Eternal Adam (circa 1900), Jules Verne compares aluminum and iron:
“Without a doubt, the iron had been corroded by time, while the aluminum case stood victoriously. »
Note that the currency was also made in this metal.
For more aluminum trivia:
Raw materials, from a different angle – 5. Aluminum
In the same series, “Raw materials and art”:
- Cereals and Van Gogh
- Coffee and culture
- Cotton and Edgar Degas
- Cocoa and Luis Meléndez
- Sugar and Sartre
- Copper and Chardin
- Steel and Gayle Hermick
- Corn and Jean Mortel
- Biogas and Victor Hugo
- Hydrogen and the aerostatic globe
- The wind, Da Vinci and Monnet
- The Sun and Firedrich
- L’or et Klimt
- Barley and Antiquity
- Le soja et Seikei Zusetsu
Sources :
Industry: the discovery of an exceptional metal (afextrusion.com)
Why Napoleon III Served Dinner On Alu Instead Of Gold | by Erik Brown | Dialogue & Discourse | Medium
How was France’s Emperor Napoleon III an early proponent of the metal aluminium? – Quora
The Lord Adam – Wikisource
Photo credit : Bank of France, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons