500 Euros La Semeuse

La Semeuse — the sower figure first drawn by Louis-Oscar Roty for the 1897 franc series — became one of the most enduring images in French coinage, surviving the transition from the franc to the euro on bullion issues precisely because of public and institutional attachment to the type. This 2010 issue is part of Monnaie de Paris's ongoing program of gold bullion strikes using historic French iconography, a line begun in earnest after the euro changeover left the mint without a circulating coinage identity to anchor collector interest.

Roty's original sketch was made using his own wife as the model.