2025 France €20 Fine Silver 1oz Proof Coin - History of US Independence: Benjamin Franklin & the Winged Genius

• Mint: Monnaie de Paris
• Denomination: €20
• Quality: Proof
• Issue limit: 3,000 pcs.
• Alloy: 99.9% Fine Silver
• Diameter: 37 mm
  
• Weight: 31.1 g (1 troy ounces)
  
• Box/Capsule: Yes/Yes
• Certificate: Yes

Additional Information

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The series “History of US Independence" started in 2020, and honors French involvement in American War of Independence. The designs of the coins are directly inspired by historical medals struck by the Monnaie de Paris throughout its history.

In 2020, the series started with the arrival of La Fayette in Boston. Washington Before Boston followed in 2021, then the Great Seal of the USA in 2022 and the Libertas Americana medal in 2023 for its 240th anniversary. In 2004 it was the Battle of Cowpens that was honored.

Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath, known for his contributions as an inventor, scientist and diplomat. As a Founding Father, he was notably involved in drafting the United States Declaration of Independence.

The Benjamin Franklin Winged Genius medal was produced in 1784 by Augustin Dupré, general engraver of the French mint from 1791. It was not the result of a royal commission, but Dupré's spontaneous tribute to Benjamin Franklin, whom he admired as much for his scientific work on electricity as for his diplomatic role.

The reverse features a winged Genius holding a lightning bolt in front of a temple with a lightning rod, with at his feet a broken crown and sceptre - symbols of the triumph of science and freedom. The Latin legend ‘Eripuit coelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis’ (‘He snatched the thunderbolt from the sky and the sceptre from the tyrants’), inspired by Turgot and popularised in France from 1778 onwards, underlines Franklin's dual scientific and political dimension.

A second version of this medal was produced in 1786, with a more sober reverse within an oak wreath around the same legend. This simpler version was more widely distributed. The first, more artistic version remained intimate and rare.