A mining landscape on a silver 100 francs is an unusual subject for a coin. This is how France marked, in 1985, the centenary of Émile Zola’s «Germinal», the novel about a coal miners’ strike in the north of the country that made the lives of miners a subject of great literature.

One side shows the industrial landscape after a drawing by Alain Le Breton, with the motto LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE, the words RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE and the value 100F. The other shows Zola in right profile with the legend 1885 1985 EMILE ZOLA GERMINAL.

The coin belongs to the Fifth Republic’s series of circulating silver 100 francs: .900 silver, 15 g, with a standard mintage of 4,000,235 struck at Pessac. Despite the precious metal it was real money, losing legal tender status only on 17 February 2002, together with the franc itself.

For a collection it sits at the crossroads of several themes — literature, labour history and Fifth Republic silver. Grade F-VF: the coin has circulated and wear on the high points is visible, but the writer’s portrait, the landscape and the legends read well.

Whether as a gift for a collector or for your own collection, choose your coins at VPcoins.