Coin Pièce France 100 francs Silver 1994 A Paris

Issued in 1994 by the Monnaie de Paris (mint A), this 100 francs coin pays tribute to Marshal Alphonse Juin and the Battle of Monte Cassino, a decisive military engagement of the Second World War during which the French Expeditionary Corps, under Juin's command, distinguished itself in May 1944 by breaking through the Gustav Line in the Italian Apennines.

The obverse of the coin features the portrait of Marshal Alphonse Juin, a major figure of the French army in the 20th century, born in 1888 in Bône, Algeria, and who died in 1967. Juin was the only French officer to have been granted the dignity of Marshal of France after the Liberation. The Battle of Monte Cassino, evoked by the inscription on the coin, represents one of the most iconic feats of arms of his military career.

This coin is struck in silver with a fineness of 900 thousandths, corresponding to an alloy composed of 90% fine silver. It has a weight of 22.2 grams and a diameter of 37 millimetres, dimensions characteristic of French commemorative coins of that era.

The mintage of this issue is particularly limited, restricted to 6,670 specimens, making it a low-circulation coin within the French commemorative series of the Fifth Republic. This relative rarity should be viewed in the context of the Monnaie de Paris's editorial policy for its silver commemorative issues of the 1990s, intended primarily for collectors and institutions.

This coin is part of the series of commemorative 100 francs silver coins issued by France throughout the 1980s and 1990s, aimed at honouring notable personalities and events in French national and military history.