100 francs Emile Zola essai

The Zola essai was produced as part of France's long-running commemorative essai program, in which the Monnaie de Paris struck trial or pattern pieces for collector distribution rather than general circulation. The 1985 issue marks the 145th anniversary of Zola's birth — an odd anniversary to commemorate, but French monetary authorities of the period were not always rigorous in selecting round numbers.

Zola had been a politically radioactive figure for decades after the Dreyfus Affair, and his appearance on official coinage as late as 1985 still carried some residual cultural weight in France.