Catalog
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| Issuer | Centre des Monuments Nationaux |
|---|---|
| Year | 2023 |
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| Printer | Oberthur Fiduciaire (Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire; FCO; Oberthur Technologies), France (1984-date) |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette presents a panoramic view of the Abbaye de Montmajour in Provence, rendered in violet and ochre tones over a fine guilloche underprint. To the left, a large intaglio-style zero numeral and the EuroSouvenir flag logo with the year code 2023-1; a vertical star column appears at right. The issuer inscription and serial number are printed at lower centre and right. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse carries a composite vignette of six iconic European monuments — Brandenburg Gate, Belém Tower, Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Sagrada Família, and Manneken-Pis — arranged across the centre field over a multicolour guilloche underprint. A vignette of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa appears at the right. Denomination and printer details are printed at lower right. |
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| Comments |
Zero-euro souvenir notes have been issued through the Centre des Monuments Nationaux network since 2016, sold directly at historic sites as collectibles with no redemption value and no legal tender status anywhere. Oberthur Fiduciaire produces the series under licence from the European Central Bank, which permits use of the euro design grammar — including the security thread and watermark — specifically for this collector market. The notes are printed in controlled runs, with per-site quantities varying enough that some issues become genuinely scarce within a year of release.
Montmajour Abbey, founded by Benedictine monks in the tenth century near Arles, was famously suppressed during the Revolution and spent decades as a ruin before the French state began restoration in the nineteenth century. Van Gogh painted it repeatedly from the surrounding plain.