{"product_id":"france-km-968-5-francs-1989-xf-eiffel-tower","title":"France KM#968 5 Francs 1989 VF or better—Eiffel Tower—Commemorative","description":"\u003cp\u003eYou can't own the Eiffel Tower — not the real iron one. But you can own a piece of it, in nickel and copper, from the year it turned 100.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCoin Characteristics\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eVarieties:\u003c\/strong\u003e Single variety\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eObverse:\u003c\/strong\u003e Base of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eiffel_Tower\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eEiffel Tower\u003c\/a\u003e, denomination above; engraved by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Joaquin_Jimenez_(engraver)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eJoaquin Jimenez\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReverse:\u003c\/strong\u003e Eiffel Tower viewed from below, dates 1889–1989 at right; engraved by Frédéric Joubert\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Nickel-plated copper-nickel (Cu75%Ni25%), mildly magnetic\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10 g\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDiameter:\u003c\/strong\u003e 29 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThickness:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eShape:\u003c\/strong\u003e Round\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEdge:\u003c\/strong\u003e Reeded\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOrientation:\u003c\/strong\u003e Coin alignment ↑↓\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMint:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Monnaie_de_Paris\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMonnaie de Paris\u003c\/a\u003e, Paris\/Pessac (864–date)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMint marks:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dolphin (Émile Rousseau, General Engraver, Monnaie de Paris, 1974–1994); AGMM (Atelier de Gravure des Monnaies et Médailles)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCommemorative issue:\u003c\/strong\u003e 100th Anniversary of the Eiffel Tower\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Demonetization_(currency)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDemonetized\u003c\/a\u003e:\u003c\/strong\u003e 17 February 2002\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReferences:\u003c\/strong\u003e Gad 1789# 772, KM# 968, Schön# 263, Franc 2014# 342\/2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMintage:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9,784,011\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCurrency:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/French_franc\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eNew franc\u003c\/a\u003e (1960–2001)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCountry:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/France\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFrance\u003c\/a\u003e — \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/French_Fifth_Republic\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFifth Republic\u003c\/a\u003e (1958–date)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrance Unfiltered\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Eiffel Tower was built as a temporary structure for the 1889 World's Fair and was nearly demolished 20 years later — saved only because it made a useful radio antenna.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGustave Eiffel's contract gave him the right to use the tower commercially for 20 years; he recouped the entire construction cost within the first year from ticket sales alone.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Monnaie_de_Paris\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMonnaie de Paris\u003c\/a\u003e has been striking coins continuously since 864 AD, making it the oldest institution in France still operating at its original purpose.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrance issued this coin in 1989 — the same year it celebrated the bicentennial of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/French_Revolution\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFrench Revolution\u003c\/a\u003e, making 1989 one of the most commemoratively loaded years in French numismatic history.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eIron lace and a centennial in metal\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Gustave Eiffel’s tower turned 100 in 1989, France was also marking 200 years since the Revolution — a double anniversary that made the year feel almost engineered for ceremony. \u003cstrong\u003eThe Eiffel Tower coin landed in that moment like a punctuation mark.\u003c\/strong\u003e Struck by the world’s oldest continuously operating mint, it carries two engravers’ signatures: Jimenez on the obverse, Joubert on the reverse — a collaboration as Parisian as the tower itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe obverse gives you the base: four splayed iron feet, the denomination floating above like a caption. \u003cstrong\u003eFlip it and you’re looking up from the ground, the tower converging to a point against nothing.\u003c\/strong\u003e It’s one of the more dramatically composed reverses in French commemorative coinage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNearly 10 million were struck. Most circulated. Finding one in XF — with the high points still crisp and the tower’s lattice detail intact — takes more patience than the mintage figure suggests.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe tower that wasn’t supposed to last\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEiffel designed it to come down. The city of Paris designed it to be forgotten. \u003cstrong\u003eInstead it became the most visited paid monument on earth.\u003c\/strong\u003e The coin captures it at its centennial — still standing, still surprising, still the thing everyone pictures when they picture France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eOwn this centennial in nickel and copper\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA coin struck the year France celebrated both its most famous structure and its most famous revolution. \u003cstrong\u003eThe Eiffel Tower at 100, in XF condition, from the mint that has never stopped striking since Charlemagne.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIron that was meant to rust. A coin that was meant to spend. Neither quite did.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World Money Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51854546665783,"sku":"FRKM968VFB","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0969\/7165\/3431\/files\/KM968r.jpg?v=1775179405","url":"https:\/\/worldmoneystore.com\/products\/france-km-968-5-francs-1989-xf-eiffel-tower","provider":"World Money Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}