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500 Francs Marshal Kœnig
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1994 |
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| Currency | New franc (1960-2001) |
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| Obverse description | Uniformed bust of Marshal Marie Pierre Kœnig facing left, wearing a military peaked cap adorned with five stars and a braided band. The monogram 'RF' (République Française) appears in the left field, while the legend 'MARIE PIERRE KŒNIG' is inscribed along the lower portion of the field. The portrait is rendered in high relief with fine detail on the uniform and facial features. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Henri Kœnig commanded the Free French forces at Bir Hakeim in May–June 1942, where roughly 3,700 troops held off Rommel's Afrika Korps for fifteen days before executing a successful breakout — long enough to blunt the German advance on Tobruk. The engagement became one of the foundational episodes of Gaullist resistance mythology, which explains why Kœnig's face eventually found its way onto French commemorative coinage decades after his death in 1970.
The .920 fineness is characteristic of the French commemorative gold program of the 1990s rather than the older .900 standard used on pre-war circulation pieces.