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Template:POTD/2022-08-07

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1793 French 24-livre coin
The livre (French for 'pound') was the currency of the Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre referred to both units of account and coins. The last banknotes and coins of the livre were issued in Year II of the revolutionary French First Republic (1794). In 1795, the franc was introduced, and the first one-franc coin was struck in 1803. The word livre survived; until the middle of the 19th century it was indifferently used alongside the word franc, especially to express large amounts and transactions linked with property (such as real estate, property incomes, or cattle). This 24-livre coin was minted in Lille in 1793, under the First Republic, and is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. The obverse features a depiction of a winged genius by the French sculptor Augustin Dupré.Coin design credit: Paris Mint and Augustin Dupré; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection