FRANCE

Face value - 50 francs
Metal - silver
Mintage - 50 mln. pieces
In circulation since 1974 to 1980

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

Figures, shown on this coin, personify agriculture (ear of wheat, cap, grape vine), industry (hammer, gear-wheel, pair of compasses) and trade (balance, horn of plenty, magic warder of caducei). Also it is a personification of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, the most popular slogan of French bourgeois Revolution of XVIII century, repeated subsequently in the Constitution of 1848. For the first time it had appeared in Paris club of Cordeliers' documents on the 30th of June, 1793: "it will be proposed to house owners ... to write on their house's fronts the following words: "Unity, Indivisibility of Republic, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity or Death". They say, however, the ideas of "Liberty" and "Equality" are incompatible and cannot be realized both at the same time.