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20 Euros Pattern

Issuer Saint Martin
Year 2004
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Weight 8.53 g
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Obverse script Latin
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Reverse description Central motif depicts an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) in dynamic downward flight with wings fully spread, its talons firmly gripping a fish, rendered in fine high-relief engraving against a mirror-polished field. The denomination 20 € is prominently displayed to the left of the bird. The legend 'protection de la faune' curves along the left border in cursive script, while 'Balbuzard pêcheur' (the French name for the osprey) curves along the right border, also in cursive, referencing the wildlife conservation theme of this issue.
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Additional information

Saint Martin — the northern half of a small Caribbean island split since 1648 between French and Dutch administration — issued no regular coinage of its own in 2004. This piece is a pattern, almost certainly produced for collector sale rather than any plausible circulation, in the tradition of privately organized "fantasy" issues that proliferated among French overseas collectivities in the early 2000s. The X# prefix in Krause's Unusual World Coins confirms its status outside mainstream national coinage.

The .9167 fineness is standard 22-karat gold, the same alloy used in British sovereigns.