100 francs - Marie Curie

Issued the year France was preparing to transfer Marie Curie's remains to the Panthéon — the ceremony took place in April 1995, but institutional commemoration began well before — this coin arrived during a period of renewed national focus on her work. She remains the only woman interred there on her own merits. The silver-plated bronze composition placed it in an awkward middle tier: too fine for pocket change, too common for serious collectors.