10 francs Montesquieu essai

Issued to mark the tercentenary of Montesquieu's birth, this essai was produced by the Monnaie de Paris as a trial strike ahead of the circulating issue — a standard practice for French coinage that generates collector pieces distinct from the business strikes. Montesquieu was born in 1689 at La Brède near Bordeaux, and his De l'Esprit des Lois (1748) directly influenced the separation of powers doctrine adopted in the U.S. Constitution and the French Revolutionary constitutions alike.

The bimetallic format itself was still relatively novel for French francs at this date, having been introduced for the 10-franc series only in 1988.