France 1994 500 francs Fr-656
This specimen was lot 71477 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, October 2020), where it sold for $1,020. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 500 Francs, 1994. Paris Mint. PCGS PROOF-68. Sharply struck with frosted cameo devices and hard mirrored devices. Free of tone, haze or fog." The major French coin catalogs such as Gadoury and Le Franc disdain to list these NCLT's, considering them little more than gift shop souvenirs. This one honors the Élysée Treaty of 1963. It was accompanied by a silver hundred francs (KM 1046).
Wikipedia notes, "The Élysée Treaty was a treaty of friendship between France and West Germany, signed by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on 22 January 1963 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. With the signing of this treaty, Germany and France established a new foundation for relations that ended centuries of rivalry." De Gaulle hoped to use this treaty to detach Germany from the American alliance; instead, the opposite happened, much to his chagrin. In either case, 75 years have passed since France and Germany went to war, probably a record.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 17 g, 0.920 fine gold, AGW: 0.5028 oz.
Catalog reference: Fr-656; KM-1058.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The October 2020 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
Link to:
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- Coins and currency dated 1994
- return to Decimal coinage of France (1795-2001)