Issued as part of the Monnaie de Paris "Grands Écrivains Français" series, this piece marks the 400th anniversary of Molière's birth — though the exact date has been disputed by scholars for decades, with parish records from Saint-Eustache in Paris placing his baptism on January 15, 1622, while the birth itself went unregistered. Molière died in 1673 shortly after collapsing on stage during the fourth performance of Le Malade Imaginaire, a play in which he was performing the role of a hypochondriac.
Issued as part of the Monnaie de Paris "Grands Écrivains Français" series, this piece marks the 400th anniversary of Molière's birth — though the exact date has been disputed by scholars for decades, with parish records from Saint-Eustache in Paris placing his baptism on January 15, 1622, while the birth itself went unregistered. Molière died in 1673 shortly after collapsing on stage during the fourth performance of Le Malade Imaginaire, a play in which he was performing the role of a hypochondriac.