50 Euros Francis I

This piece belongs to the Monnaie de Paris series commemorating French monarchs, issued under the broader "Histoire de France" program that ran through the 2010s. Francis I ruled from 1515 to 1547 and was the king who invited Leonardo da Vinci to France in 1516 — Leonardo died at Amboise the following year, reportedly in Francis's arms, though historians dispute the literal truth of that detail.

The .920 fineness is characteristic of French commemorative gold of this period, fractionally below the .999 standard common elsewhere but consistent across the series.