50 francs Guiraud épreuve de contrôle Avers

The 50 francs Guiraud, designed by Henri Piel under the pseudonym Guiraud, entered production in 1950 as France rebuilt its coinage infrastructure after the disruptions of Occupation and Liberation. This piece is not a circulation strike but a contrôle épreuve — a quality-control trial struck in lead by the Monnaie de Paris to verify die alignment, depth, and relief before authorizing full production runs. Such pieces were internal workshop documents, never intended for release, which explains both their rarity and the casual handling they sometimes received.

The obverse die used here corresponds to GEM 221.4, a specific catalogued state within the Guiraud series.