I purchased this medal at the 2007 FUN Show from the Paris Mint table. It was produced to honor the 300th anniversary of the birth of Franklin. During the Revolutionary War years that Franklin spent in France, it had been purported that he was quite the ladies' man, but there is no question that he was highly regarded by the members of the French court. Chris
While funny, I think it was great the French produced this medal. We do owe them a debt of gratitude. Some argue we paid them back in WWI and 2, but to me it doesn't matter. Our countries have had a long history of friendship, something easy to forget in modern animosity like renaming fries "freedom fries", (something truly stupid, since the french in french fries refers to the cut, not the country, fries are from Belgium). Always remember the Statue of Liberty is a gift from France, and they were right about Saddam Hussein. Just because someone does not always agree with us does not mean we need to hate them.
Actually, the French fries were created in Coney Island, and name so because they (the creators) thought that it sounded more exotic.
Referring to them as "French Fries" may have occurred in Coney Island but the actual food known today as French fries originated in Belgium or France and they are basically deep fried potato's.