5 francs Tour Eiffel (Epreuve de contrôle)

The "épreuve de contrôle" is a foundry control strike, not a coin in any conventional sense. These lead pieces were produced internally by the Monnaie de Paris to verify that dies met dimensional and relief standards before silver or other production blanks were committed to the press. The 1989 date ties this directly to the centennial of the Eiffel Tower, for which the standard nickel 5 francs issue was produced in enormous quantities. That this control piece survives outside the mint at all is itself unusual — most were retained or destroyed after inspection.