Depicts Marianne's head in a Phrygian cap with a flaming torch facing right, the country name on the right.

Marianne is a national symbol of the French Republic, an allegory of liberty and reason, and a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. It is a significant republican symbol, opposed to monarchy, and an icon of freedom and democracy against all forms of dictatorship. Her profile stands out on the official government logo of the country, is engraved on French euro coins and appears on French postage stamps; it also was featured on the former franc currency.

The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe and Anatolia, including Phrygia, Dacia, and the Balkans. In early modern Europe it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty through a confusion with the pileus, the felt cap of manumitted (emancipated) slaves of ancient Rome. Accordingly, the Phrygian cap sometimes is called a liberty cap.

Denomination above date at the left, olive branches and cereal ears at the right, the national motto of France (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) above.

Paris Mint: the date surrounded by the mint mark (Cornucopia, horn of plenty) on the left and privy mark of the Mint's Chief Engravers (Wing of Lucien Georges Bazor, 1931-1958 or Owl of Raymond Joly, 1958-1974) below.

Beaumont-le-Roger Mint: the same mint and privy marks as for the Paris Mint plus the mint mark (B) among olive leaves.