Part of France's short-lived pre-euro "Euro de l'Art" fantasy series, this piece was issued a full two years before the euro had legal tender status anywhere — a promotional exercise by the Monnaie de Paris dressed in statutory clothing. The dual denomination pairing franc with a notional 1½ euro figure had no monetary basis; the exchange-rate anchoring was purely decorative, fixed by issuer fiat rather than any ECB mechanism.
Degas never sold La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans during his lifetime. The wax original sat in his studio for decades before posthumous bronze casting began in 1921.
Part of France's short-lived pre-euro "Euro de l'Art" fantasy series, this piece was issued a full two years before the euro had legal tender status anywhere — a promotional exercise by the Monnaie de Paris dressed in statutory clothing. The dual denomination pairing franc with a notional 1½ euro figure had no monetary basis; the exchange-rate anchoring was purely decorative, fixed by issuer fiat rather than any ECB mechanism.
Degas never sold La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans during his lifetime. The wax original sat in his studio for decades before posthumous bronze casting began in 1921.