France, Second Empire. An Emperor Napoleon III Ring
A Second French Empire Emperor Napoleon III Ring - Bronze, unmarked, face plate illustrating the right-facing bust of Napoleon III, inscribed "NAPOLEON III" on the left and "EMPEREUR" on the right, face plate measuring 15.3 mm x 17.2 mm, the ring measuring 22 mm in diameter, exhibiting surface wear and contact marks, sticker residue on the left side panel, fine. Footnote: Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (April 20, 1808 – January 9, 1873) was the first President of the French Second Republic and, as Napoleon III, the Emperor of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I. He was the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. However, when he was blocked by the Constitution and Parliament from running for a second term, he organized a coup d'état in 1851, and then took the throne as Napoleon III on December 2, 1852, the forty-eighth anniversary of Napoleon I's coronation. He remains the longest-serving head of state since the French Revolution.

