10 francs François Rude piéfort or

François Rude is best known for the monumental relief *La Marseillaise* carved on the Arc de Triomphe between 1833 and 1836, and this piéfort was struck in the centenary year of his death — though his birth bicentennial in 1984 was the actual occasion for the series. The Monnaie de Paris issued piéforts in this period primarily for the collector and investor market, typically struck at twice the standard flan thickness, which accounts for the dramatic weight relative to the coin's modest diameter.