The Five Franc Piece

• 1916
• Other, Drama

Napoleon, anxious to make his issue of five franc pieces popular with his subjects, secretly places an order for one million francs in one of his coins, mixes this particular coin with a hundred others, and passes them among those whom he thinks most worthy. One of the coins falling into the hands of Brigadier Jean Villiars, is handed down three generations to his descendant, Jean Villiars. Jean, an ambitious and young inventor, perfects and patents a device for wireless control of torpedo boats. Allen Green, an unscrupulous promoter, resolves to steal Jean's plans from a cabinet after Jean has refused Green's offer of $10,000 for the idea. One night Jean has a vivid dream in which his attention is called to an old heirloom, an antique box on the table. That night Green steals into Jean's bed-chamber in an attempt to steal the plans. He does not know that the cabinet on the wall is wired with electricity, and when he endeavors to open it, he is thrown to the floor where Jean finds him and delivers him to the police. Margaret Wilson, Jean's sweetheart, reads in a French paper that an order for a million francs issued by Napoleon, and placed in an old coin, still holds good. She thinks of the five franc piece owned by Jean. She summons the gardener to file the edge of the coin, and there the money order is found. Thus is Jean shown a way to promote his invention and marry the girl he loves.