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5 francs Hercule de Dupré Essai
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1996 |
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| Shape | Round |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE * 5 FRANCS 1996 |
| Reverse description | The reverse features the celebrated Hercule de Dupré composition, depicting a nude Hercules wearing a lion skin (leonté) and standing frontally in the centre, clasping hands with two allegorical female figures. To his left stands Liberté, draped, holding a pike surmounted by a Phrygian cap; to his right stands Égalité, draped, holding a set-square or level. The three figures are united in a gesture of civic solidarity, surrounded by the republican motto 'LIBERTÉ ÉGALITÉ FRATERNITÉ' along the periphery. The engraver's name 'Dupré' and the word 'ESSAI' appear in the lower field, confirming this as a pattern strike. |
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| Additional information |
The Hercule type, derived from Augustin Dupré's late eighteenth-century design, was periodically revived for the Fifth Republic's franc coinage as a deliberate nod to Revolutionary-era republican iconography. This 1996 essai was struck by the Monnaie de Paris as part of its final years of franc-denominated trial production — within three years, the monetary framework that made such pieces necessary would begin its formal dissolution ahead of euro adoption in 1999. Essais of this period were produced in strictly limited numbers for collectors and archival purposes, not for circulation approval.