In May or so the French Mint in Pessac will issue ... yet another commem. Well, this one may be interesting for some collectors in the US. It honors Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Motier, better known as Marquis de La Fayette.



La Fayette, born 250 years ago, had an important role in the US Revolutionary War. The obverse of the coin shows him, surrounded by the French motto "La Fayette, Héros de la Révolution Américaine". In case you don't understand that, just flip the piece:

On the reverse you see the fregate "Hermione" that took him to Boston. At the bottom, the flags of the two countries, and above the English inscription "La Fayette, Hero of the American Revolution". The face value is kind of theoretical: quart d'euro, ie. 25 cent ... but that piece will cost about 20 euro.

Christian

Marie is a guy's name

On the coin, I'm gonna say the the LaFayette Dollar is way cooler than this, which looks like yet another modern high-detail, super-low relief piece of junk.

Well, I would have to see the real thing. Such computer rendered images just give a first impression. But hey, the "quarter" has a ship!

Usually I don't really care much any more about what the French Mint issues. It has become a plethora, or a numismatic zoo ... The Rugby World Cup, the Chinese Wall, Renault Formule 1, Le Petit Prince (and and and) are on the schedule for this year.

As for Marie, that is or was relatively common primarily in "Latin" countries (France, Spain, South America, etc.) Usually not as the very first name though - rather "Jean Marie" or "Xavier Maria" ...

Christian

I guess it's one of those names that was used for both sexes and eventually got "taken over". I've noticed in some readings that during WWII, some previously male names overnight became females names, and it's never gone back (ie. Kay)

On coins - has any country issued a high-relief coin (circulating or NCLT) recently?

I actually like that piece, but isn't a bit of an insult to end up on a €.25 piece and not say a €10 coin? If you ever go to Monnaie de Paris, they have a very nice well stocked boutique near the Seine. It is hard to get out of there without buying medals and gold though

Circulating - I don't think so. High-relief coins will not work very well with vending machines, for example. And coins aimed at collectors ... well, one option is to not have a raised edge. This will almost automatically increase the "3D effect", like with these coins:
http://www.muenzenladen.de/nvCOM/images/ddr/10mark/8171.jpg
http://www.omnicoin.com/coins/905711.jpg

The German euro coins, for example, can now (since 2004) have a somewhat higher relief than before. Does not mean that the pieces have to be designed that way though. Here is one example from the Unesco Heritage series:
http://www.muenz-news.de/euro/brd-euros/2004/bambergb.jpg

Guess that people who prefer extremely high relief pieces may be better off collecting (old or new) medals ...

Christian

Well, is it insulting to have Ben Franklin on US coins with a face value of $1 each (which is about €0.75)? I don't think so since, as I wrote, in such cases the face value is a theoretical one. You don't buy a 30 millimeter/13 gram silver coin at 20 to 25 euro in order to spend it at its face value of 25 cent ...

Ah, but the MdP listened to you. The La Fayette coin will come in two versions:
* 1/4 € silver (Ag 900, Ø 30 mm, mintage 5000 BU)
* 10 € gold (Au 920, Ø 22 mm, mintage 500 BE)

The price of the silver piece, outside the EU, should be about €20. The gold coin will cost about €280. Whether they are actually issued in May, or later (closer to his birthday maybe), remains to be seen.

Christian

I like it, but as all French pieces I will not buy it.

Here are images of the actual coin. This is the 1/4 euro silver piece; EU price is €28 ...



This one is nice, but now that the Monnaie de Paris issues collector coins like medals (ie. you can have your own made), the sheer volume of what they release is even worse than before.

Christian

I sure am glad that the Americans are in good with the French again. Also nice to know that MdP listened to Moi and came up with new denominations. I think they should send the commems of course, but also a case of Kronenbourg in payment and all is settled.

It is said that Belgium is an outside province of France
It was customery to give the first name of the godfather and the first name of the godmother to newborn childs
So I have a woman name as second first name too
August for my godfather
Germaine for my godmother