French Polynesia 1979 100 francs
This specimen was lot 3012 in Stephen Album sale 41 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2021), where it sold for $168. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRENCH POLYNESIA: French Overseas Territory, AR 100 francs, 1979, NGC graded Proof 66 Cameo, R." This specimen was struck by the Paris mint, which issued this type sporadically 1976-2005. In 2006, the alloy was changed to aluminum bronze. This date was struck only for collectors and the silver piefort is more available than the regular issue, of which only 150 were made. French Polynesia is better known to English speakers as Tahiti. This coin shares a common obverse with other types issued for various French colonies, such as New Caledonia and the New Hebrides.
Recorded mintage: 150 proofs + 350 silver pieforts + 98 in gold.
Specification: regular issue: 10 g, nickel bronze, 30 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-P29 (piedfort), KM-14.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 41, featuring the Dick Nanta Collection of Giray Khans, Part II, the Charles Opitz Collection of Ethnographic Money, Part II, and the Allan F. Pacela Collection of Chinese Coins. Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2021.
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