3 Euro de Saint-Raphaël [83]

Saint-Raphaël issued this brass 3 euro piece as part of the brief French municipal euro experiment of 1996–1997, in which hundreds of towns minted their own denominations ahead of the official euro adoption to stimulate local tourism and commerce. The program was technically extralegal — the Banque de France tolerated rather than sanctioned it — and the whole exercise was quietly wound down once the official euro timeline solidified.

The [83] in the name refers to the Var département number, a common identifier used by municipalities in the region to distinguish their issues from identically named towns elsewhere.