500 Francs Charlemagne - Pattern

This piece belongs to the Monnaie de Paris pattern series issued in 1990 to preview what became the circulating 500 Franc Charlemagne bimetallic coin. Pattern strikes of this type were produced in platinum specifically for presentation and archival purposes — the production circulation coin was struck in bimetal. Mintages for platinum essais from this program were extraordinarily small, often in the dozens rather than hundreds.

Charlemagne's selection as subject reflected French efforts in 1990 to anchor national identity to a pre-national European figure — politically useful as Maastricht negotiations were already underway.