A new purchase. This is what's referred to as the "Turin type" design, based on the name of the designer, Pierre Turin (see P. TURIN below the bust). This design was used on the 20 Francs coin from 1929-1939. While the mintages in several of the years were multiple millions, these are not as readily available in gem mint state as one might suspect. They can be found with patience, and they are by no means rare -- but I'm very pleased with this example for my collection and I don't think I'll be "upgrading" it anytime soon. I was particularly attracted to the "proof-like" surfaces -- this coin was clearly struck very early on after the die was put into service (or returned to service after being reworked). The die polish/repair lines make for a booming, lustrous look to this coin (see close-up image below). If you have any Turin types of your own, please post them! I'm very fond of this design. Thanks for looking, Brandon
Not having paid much attention to these in the past, do all of them have the little extra "tail" on the Q in Republique that your coin has?? [nice photos]
All of the OP coin have it. Some of the other French coins show it. But not the majority of them. They have different styles of the letter Q. Here is a gold 20 Francs
My first exposure to this Turin design was the coin below: After having that coin for 2-3 years, I wanted to get the "real deal" instead of just a pattern/essai. I just noticed the "Q" is just slightly different on this 1950 coin.
I'm a fan of a lot of French coins, mainly the 20th century stuff like yours. I'd say those are quite rare in ms66! I've never seen one before
