10 francs FRANCE (1988-2001)

in the coin centre Génie de la Liberté - figure crowning the July Column (Place de la Bastille); in the background capital letters: RF (République Française - French Republic); outer ring decorated with parallel stripes

in the coin centre face value: 10 F (FRANCS); below year of issue; along the top edge: LIBERTÉ ÉGALITÉ, along the bottom one: FRATERNITÉ (liberty, equality, fraternity); in the background banches of parallel stripes

five plain and five reeded sections

???  no data

18 II 2002

Atelier de gravure (group of designers of the Paris Mint - rosette below letter R in the obverse)

La Monnaie de Paris (The Paris Mint), Pessac (mint mark before year of issue in the reverse, after year of issue privy mark of mint's director Emile Rousseau - dolphin - in years 1988-1993, Pierre Rodier - bee - in years 1994-2000 or Gérard Buquoy - horseshoe - in 2001)

1988	99 982 011	dolphin	+ 10 565 in annual boxed sets
1989	249 966 011	dolphin	+ 11 438 in annual boxed sets
1990	249 990 011	dolphin	+ 10 000 in annual boxed sets
1991	249 987 011	dolphin	+ 2 500 in annual boxed sets
1992	99 966 111	dolphin	+ 2 698 in annual boxed sets
1993	-	dolphin	+ 3 095 in annual boxed sets	medal alignment
1994	-	bee	+ 3 707 in annual boxed sets
1995	15 011	bee	+ 4 000 in annual boxed sets
1996	12 013	bee	+ 5 000 in annual boxed sets
1997	-	bee	+ 15 000 in annual boxed sets
1998	-	bee	+ 25 000 in annual boxed sets
1999	-	bee	+ 25 000 in annual boxed sets
2000	27 956 013	bee	+ 100 000 in annual boxed sets
2001	-	horseshoe	+ 125 000 in annual boxed sets

1989 - 12 or 13 ridges in each reeded section of the edge;

in years 1991 and 1992 there exist coins with reverses not rotated by 180° in respect to obverses (medal alignment in American terminology) - 2 500 and 2 698 pieces were produced in respective years and placed in annual boxed sets

Privy marks of the general engravers of the Mint of Paris, which can be found on French coins produced after 1944:

Lucien Bazor	1931-1958		wing
Raymond Joly	1958-1974		owl
Emile Rousseau	1974-1994		dolphin
Pierre Rodier	1994-2000		bee
Gérard Buquoy	2001-2002		horseshoe
Serge Levet	2003		heart
Hubert Larivière	2004-2010		horn
Yves Sampo	from 2011		rosette

Isuue of year 1993 was completely struck in medal alignment and placed in annual boxed sets.

Le Génie de la Liberté by the sculptor Augustin-Alexandre Dumont from 1833 is crowning the July Column (La colonne de Juillet) on the Place de la Bastille in Paris.



The Paris Mint (La Monnaie de Paris) dating back to the 6th century is the oldest French institution, and some would say - oldest institution in the world. The mint office is located in the center of Paris in a complex called Hotel des Monnaies, which was opened on December 20, 1775. A cornucopia is the symbol placed on any coin minted by the Paris Mint from January 1, 1880. The second character visible on coins was a symbol of the general engraver (Graveur general). The tradition of this job dates back to 1547 when Henry II of Valois appointed a general engraver as the only person authorized to create the king's portrait. Only the design prepared by the general engraver could have been copied to the coins stamps in national mints. Starting from 2001, the heads of engravers workshop in the Paris Mint do not hold this traditional title anymore, but their privy marks still appear on French coins next to the mint mark.

The name of the French mint - La Monnaie de Paris - suggests that the plant producing coins is located in the French capital. This is however, only the company name and factories were placed in various French cities. At the moment, the only place producing coins of France (and of some other countries) is Pessac near Bordeaux.