500 Francs Vénus de Milo, Large module

The Vénus de Milo series was part of France's broader late-Soviet-era cultural diplomacy push, with the large module issued as a prestige collector piece rather than anything approaching circulation. The Fr#635a designation distinguishes this from the small module variant (Fr#635), both struck the same year — a split that occasionally trips up cataloguers who conflate the two under a single KM entry.

The sculpture itself had been a centerpiece of French national prestige since its 1821 acquisition, which involved a contested purchase from Ottoman-controlled Melos and a parallel negotiation that the French government has never fully declassified.