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Pillar of the Community
United States
789 Posts |
I was in Paris recently and was walking along the Seine on my way to the Musee d'Orsay and happened upon the French mint, and even though I don't collect world coins thought I might check it out to see if they had a gift shop (they do), and if so thought I might pick up a proof set for my two collecting grandsons.
After navigating the usual cobblestoned courtyard and a small maze of hallways having spoken to more than one mint personnel (they spoke a fair amount of English, certainly much more than my French) I found myself at the gift shop. They had a wide range of coins, most of ehich were not intended for circulation.
Prices were similar to U.S. mint offerings with gold and silver coins well above spot. Coins, in my opinion, were impressive. Lots of commemorative issues to choose from in a wide range of prices and finishes. Alas, no proof sets. Sorry grandsons.
Don't know if there was any kind of mint tour offered and I was late for the museum so I hurried out without making a purchase. Aurevoir!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
853 Posts |
I've visited the museum several times, and it is a real treat. Circulating coin production has been moved out to Pessac (about the time the British moved theirs to Llantrisant), but there are still some minting and related activities in the building. The collections of dies, punches, and other minting tools on exhibit are worth the (quite modest) price of admission in my mind, not to speak of the coins and medals themselves. The first exhibit as you go through the museum is one of metals used in coinage, copper, silver, and gold of course, but also iron, zinc, aluminium. the display case for platinum has one each of the old standard kilograms and meters! Out in the courtyard is also one of the gnomons used for measuring the meridian of Paris.
They also have temporary exhibitions. One time it was of Olympic medals and memorabilia, including a participant medal from the 1940 Games, which were never held owing to the outbreak of war. Another time it was of coin-operated amusements from the second half of the XX century, pinball games, juke boxes, video arcades, and so on. Of course, being the Mint, they had made their own tokens for the machines. Each visitor got a cupful at the entrance, and there was a place near the exit to leave unused ones, but did I? You bet your sweet bippy I took them home with me!
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
18830 Posts |
I am surprised they didn't have any proof sets. Usually you can get sets of the year's circulating coins there - they do two versions, BU (Brillant Universal) which are Uncirculated coins in clear plastic inside a cardboard slip case, and BE (Belle Epreuve) which are Proof coins with frosted relief in a higher quality case. https://www.monnaiedeparis.fr/fr/se...llesime-2026Edited by NumisRob
09/26/2026 4:05 pm
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Moderator
 United States
195873 Posts |
Thank you for sharing your experience.  |
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Valued Member
United States
159 Posts |
Yes, thanks for sharing!
I tried to contact the Monnaie deParis a few different times about their work to produce some gold commemorative coins for South Korea in the early 1970s. They never responded, of course.
I would also like to contact the British Mint, since I'm researching Republic of the Philippines coins now, and the Llantrisant Mint produced circulation coins for the Philippines in the 1970s and 1980s.
All I'm really looking for is these organization's historical data on how many coins they made for these foreign coinages on contract. Any other information they have on these contracts would be great, too.
It seems that there's not too much freedom of information in many countries. Very proprietary, and almost never available to people who are really interested in the information.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
853 Posts |
mlov, mintage figures for Llantrisant, both for British coins and export contracts, should be in the reports submitted to Parliament by the Treasury for the year. Your best bet is to inquire of the Public Records Office. Certainly the late 19th century annual Reports of the Deputy Master of The Royal Mint are unequalled in scope and detail, but the modern equivalents have at least basic information. And the corresponding figures for Paris/Pessac should be in their official reports, albeit in French of course.
Edited by publius
Today 1H 4M ago
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Moderator
United States
195873 Posts |
Quote:
It seems that there's not too much freedom of information in many countries. Very proprietary, and almost never available to people who are really interested in the information.  Quote:
mlov, mintage figures... |
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Replies: 6 / Views: 194 |
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Posted 09/26/2026 4:03 pm
