France 2007 20 euro KM-1521
This specimen was lot 5015 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €1,000 (about US$1,392 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANKREICH, KÖNIGREICH, 5. Republik seit 1958. 20 Euro 2007. Kinderträume der Welt - Asterix und Kleopatra. 15,64 g Feingold. GOLD. Nur 500 Exemplare geprägt. In Originaletui. Polierte Platte. (France, fifth republic, since 1985, twenty euro of 2007, world comics--Asterix and Cleopatra. Only 500 struck, in original box, proof.)"
The treaty which established the euro in 1999 gave specifications for the one cent thru two euro coins which are legal tender throughout the European Union. Higher denominations are not legal tender and each country is free to issue commemoratives as it sees fit, a right the Paris mint has ruthlessly exploited. This one honors French comic strip Asterix and is accompanied by several silver 1½ euro (KM 1516, 1517, 1518).
Recorded mintage: 490.
Specification: 17 g, 0.920 fine gold, 31 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 1521, Fr-818.
- 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, 2001-Date, 13th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2018.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 354: Munzen und Medaillen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. Braunschweig-Luneburg. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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