5 francs Semeuse Essai piéfort or 1968

The 1968 Semeuse piéfort in gold occupies a peculiar institutional niche — produced not for circulation or conventional collecting but as a formal presentation piece demonstrating what the type would look like struck in precious metal at double thickness. The Monnaie de Paris has issued piéforts in this fashion since the medieval period, making them an almost bureaucratic artifact: proof that the dies were correct, the metal sound, and the striking pressure sufficient.

May 1968 makes the date quietly ironic. While students and workers were tearing up the streets of Paris, the Monnaie was producing some of its most technically exacting work.