The conclusion of World War I nearly 100 years ago paved the way for relative stability, for a decade anyway, before tensions began simmering again.

The Monnaie de Paris marks the centennial of the conclusion of the Great War with a pair of silver coins available at small premiums over their face value. 

These “guaranteed face value” coins are an Uncirculated .333 fine silver €10 coin and an Uncirculated .900 fine silver €100 coin. The face value coins are in a series intended as a low-risk way to begin collecting, with face values very close to the actual cost. 

Seeing doubled elements on a Lincoln cent? You might have a doubled die variety, of which hundreds of different of varieties both common and rare exist. Also in this issue, we reflect on a time when U.S. paper money depicted living persons.

The coins conclude a five-year program honoring milestones and moments in the Great War. 

The coins share a similar obverse design, with different reverse designs reflecting the differing face values.

Launched in 2014 for the centenary of the Great War, the series highlights the lives of men on the front and women behind the lines; all were actors in the conflict that marked a serious breaking point in the 20th century. 

The obverse of the 2018 coins displays the bugler that called the cease-fire. The soldier wears multiple flags along with a cornflower and a poppy. The Arc de Triomphe is in the background, under which a returning soldier holds his child in his arms. 

The reverse of the coins shows their face value decorated with an oak branch and a laurel branch arranged to evoke the euro sign. The motifs on the reverse side are framed within a set of lines representing France’s hexagonal shape. 

The €10 coin weighs 17 grams and measures 31 millimeters in diameter. It has a mintage limit of 100,000 pieces, each presented in a colorful pack, and retails for €12. 

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The €100 coin weighs 50 grams and measures 47 millimeters in diameter. It has a mintage limit of 10,000 pieces, each inside a black folding card, and retails for €118.

Both coins are available from the Monnaie de Paris e-shop at its website, www.monnaiedeparis.fr. 

Circulating €2 coin 

As Coin World has previously reported, the Monnaie de Paris is issuing a circulating  commemorative €2 coin marking the war anniversary.

The coin features the cornflower symbol on the obverse, with an inscription relating to the anniversary.

Circulating coins are plain, but the mint is pre-selling colorful Brilliant Uncirculated and Proof versions, featuring two varied shades of blue on the cornflower.

The BU version is limited to 10,000 mintage and retails for €10 each. The Proof version limited to 10,000 mintage and retails for €20 each. 

Delivery of the colorful coins is set to begin May 2. 

The Monnaie de Paris has not announced a release date for the circulating version, which will be available at face value, and which may be available in 25-coin rolls either from banks of the mint.