Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 50 Centimes 1962-1964, KM# 939, France
  • 50 Centimes 1962-1964, KM# 939, France
  • 50 Centimes 1962-1964, KM# 939, France, 3 and 4 folds in collar
Obverse

Marianne wearing a Phrygian cap, left, surrounded by the country name.

There are variations of three or four folds on the shirt collar (at neck).

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.

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.

Engraver: Henri Lagriffoul

REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE
LAGRIFFOUL

Reverse

Depicts facial value in the centre, surrounded by a wheat ear and an olive branch. The national motto of France (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) above.

Privy mark of mint's director: Owl - Raymond Joly (1962-1974)

Mint mark: Cornucopia, horn of plenty (Paris Mint - Paris until 1972 or Pessac from 1973).

Engraver: Adrien Dieudonné

LIBERTE·EGALITE
·FRATERNITE·
A.DIEUDONNE
50
CENTIMES
1962

Edge

50 Centimes

5th Republic
KM# 939 Schön# 231 Gadoury# 427
Characteristics
Material Aluminium Bronze
Weight 7 g
Diameter 24.95 mm
Thickness 2.15 mm
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Alt # KM# 939.1, KM# 939.2
Mint
Paris Mint (F)

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