100 Francs - Louis Philippe Pattern

This is an essai struck at the Paris Mint in the first year of Louis-Philippe's reign, produced to test and demonstrate the proposed coinage before authorizing full production. The Mazur and Gadoury references confirm it as a recognized pattern type, not a fantasy piece. Gold-plated tin was a standard medium for such trials — convincing in hand, economical to produce in quantity for official review.

Louis-Philippe never actually authorized a circulating 100 Francs gold piece of this design; the denomination remained largely theoretical at this scale during his July Monarchy.