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500 Francs Louis Pasteur
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1995 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | KM#1135, Fr#680 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays a bold, large numeral 500 dominating the right-center field of the dodecagonal flan, with FRANCS inscribed below and the date 1995 along the lower edge flanked by small decorative marks. To the left of the denomination, laboratory glassware associated with Pasteur's scientific work — including a long-necked flask and a round-bottomed vessel — are depicted in low relief, evoking his renowned microbiological experiments. The republican motto LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE is distributed in three segments along the upper periphery of the coin. |
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| Additional information |
Issued to mark the centenary of Pasteur's death in 1895, this coin was part of France's broader commemorative program that ran through the mid-1990s under the authority of the Monnaie de Paris. Pasteur died on September 28, 1895, at Villeneuve-l'Étang, partially paralyzed from a series of strokes that had begun in 1868 — a condition he had worked around for nearly three decades while producing some of his most consequential research.
The .920 fineness is a deliberate nod to historical French gold coinage standards rather than the modern .999 norm.