2015 French coins celebrate President Charles de Gaulle

French leader Charles De Gaulle made history long before he became president, delivering a famous radio address during World War II to rally the nation.

Three new coins from the Monnaie de Paris celebrate both of his contributions to French history, each showing the same designs, with the leader on the obverse and a radio microphone on the reverse.

The coins are among those being issued in a five-year series dubbed “From Clovis to the Republic.” The series celebrates famous French kings, rulers and presidents. 

The de Gaulle coins were released April 15, as the second-to-last subject in the program. 

On June 17, 1940, de Gaulle exhorted his countrymen and women in a speech on British Broadcasting Corp. from London to resist defeat. Having fled to London following the French surrender, he founded La France Libre (Free France), a resistance organization, and in 1944, General de Gaulle became president of the interim government of the French Republic.

After the Allied landing in Normandy, and the liberation of Paris, de Gaulle renewed the Republic. He resigned his position in 1948, but returned as president of France’s Fifth Republic in 1959, serving for 10 years.

Three 2015 coins celebrate his service: 

A Proof .900 fine silver €10 coin weighs 22.2 grams, measures 37 millimeters in diameter, and has a mintage limit of 5,000 pieces.

A Proof .920 fine gold €50 coin weighs 8.45 grams, measures 22 millimeters in diameter, and has a mintage limit of 1,000 pieces.

A Proof .999 fine gold €200 coin weighs 31.1 grams, measures 37 millimeters in diameter, and has a mintage limit of 500 pieces.

The silver €10 coin retails for €50; the gold €50 coin retails for €420; and the gold €200 coin retails for €1,670.

Visit the French Mint website


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