France 5 Francs 1994

History

5 Francs 1994, KM# 1063, France, 300th Anniversary of Birth of Voltaire

Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com

Description

François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.

Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate of several liberties, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.

Obverse	Person (writer, poet, philosopher etc.) Voltaire Portrait facing outwards to right, lettering and years surrounding. Atelier de gravure (group of designers of the Paris Mint - rosette - at Voltaire's ear in the obverse) based on design of Jean-Antoine Houdon · RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE · 1694 VOLTAIRE 1778
Reverse	Construction (building, bridge etc.) Panthéon in Paris Device and tools (watch, compass, telescope etc.) Quill Monogram, signature Signature Quill divides the Panthéon (burial place of Voltaire) and date from the denomination, below signature of Voltaire. The national motto of France (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) above. The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. It is an early example of neoclassicism, with a façade modeled on the Pantheon in Rome, surmounted by a dome that owes some of its character to Bramante's "Tempietto". Located in the 5th arrondissement on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, the Panthéon looks out over all of Paris. Designer Jacques-Germain Soufflot had the intention of combining the lightness and brightness of the Gothic cathedral with classical principles, but its role as a mausoleum required the great Gothic windows to be blocked. Mint mark: Cornucopia, horn of plenty (Paris Mint - Paris until 1972 or Pessac from 1973). Privy mark of the Mint's Chief Engravers: Bee - Pierre Rodier (1994-2000) LIBERTÉ • ÉGALITÉ • FRATERNITÉ 1994 5F Voltaire
Edge	Reeded (milled)