Who can tell me what this is ?

[GDJMSP]

Never having seen one of these before and immediately liking the coin a great deal - I just naturally had to have it

 

Now - can you correctly identify it ?

 

 

[JamminJ]

Hi GDJMSP,

 

That would be a 1978 France (5th Republic) 5 Centime coin, catalog number KM 933. 189 million were made that year from Aliminum-Bronze and the type ran from 1966 right up through the end of the Franc in 2000. My somewhat out of date catalog values it at ten cents uncirculated. The lady on the front is Marianne who as the national symbol is considered the personification of "Frenchness."

 

French coins almost always have bold, dramatic designs. Often they work out to be quite attractive like your example, but occasionally they miss badly. Never a dull coin, though!

 

-JamminJ

[gmarguli]

My somewhat out of date catalog values it at ten cents uncirculated.

 

The coin pictured is either a proof or one of their Specimne Strikes.

 

 

French coins almost always have bold, dramatic designs. Often they work out to be quite attractive like your example, but occasionally they miss badly. Never a dull coin, though!

 

I guess french coins also steal the Wheat reverse from old US coins.

[GDJMSP]

Well you're almost right JamminJ - but Greg is a little closer. The coin in question is struck in gold.

 

Does that help ?

[JamminJ]

Well you're almost right JamminJ

Oh well, based an my collecting interests when I bought my 20th century Krause I went for the smaller version which excludes NCLT and sets. Hopefully someone else will show up with a more complete answer. I'm pretty sure a gold version will be worth more than a dime!

 

 

I guess french coins also steal the Wheat reverse from old US coins.

That's OK, we borrowed a similar design from them for our Walking Liberty halves. I'm all for borrowing good designs!

 

-JamminJ

[truthteller]

French Piefort gold 1978 5 centimes. Km#P598 with design of KM#933. Mintage of 144 and a market value of $135 using 2002 Krause page 745.

 

 

TRUTH

[NPCoin]

It's a 1978 French 5 centimes minted in gold, double thick, based on the KM933 patern. Mintage of 144, with a 2002 market value of $135.00! Krause catalog P598. How much did you pay for that beauty?

[GDJMSP]

Hey - truthteller woke up afterall And he has the right answer of course.

 

As for what I paid for it - it was more than the listed value. But I didn't mind a bit. When I find something I like - listed value doesn't mean all that much. The key to me - as SMS said - it's a beauty

[NPCoin]

As a side point, I had a conversation with a Frenchman a week ago about what their name for Liberty was

 

Of course he enlightened me to her true name (Marianne), and I got to thinking. I asked him if the French refer to Miss Liberty in NY as the "Statue of Marianne" (afterall the French did give her to us), and he wouldn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes. Strange people them French....makes me wonder why we keep copying everything they have

[Hoot]

I asked him if the French refer to Miss Liberty in NY as the "Statue of Marianne" (afterall the French did give her to us), and he wouldn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes. Strange people them French....makes me wonder why we keep copying everything they have

 

 

Hoot