Madame de Pompadour is the second of three 2017 coins in the outstanding Women of France series

The natural sucessor to AgAuNEWS favourite series From Clovis to Republic, Women of France takes a look at the females that have influenced France over the last millenium. Designed by modern French icon, Christian Lacroix, the coins continue with a very cool method of striking a coin that simulates the old hammered style. The Monnaie de Paris calls this its historical strike, something similar having been used by the Royal Canadian Mint on its excellent Ornithomimus fossil coin.

Three coins came out last year, Clotilde, Mathilde and Jeanne d’Arc, and we’ve only just seen the first 2017 coin, Catherine de Medici, but the mint is powering on. The second jumps to the eighteenth century with the famed Madame de Pompadour. Another gorgeous design, these are easily some of the most attractive precious metal commemoratives being released today, at least in our view.

This Marquise de Pompadour coin again depicts a portrait on the reverse face, inscribed around which is her name and lifespan in an appropriate font. The background on this face and the other, has a subtle repeating pattern to it, slightly different in each case, but serving the same purpose. The obverse depicts an image from the title page of L’Encyclopédie, along with the famous tomes name above it. A 28 volume work with 71,818 articles and 3,129 illustrations, this important work was protected by the Marquise de Pompadour from the church that wanted it suppressed. The date and denomination are also in attendance.

Two variants of this design again, the beautiful one-ounce gold version that was particularly impressive in Joan of Arc form not appearing, it being made available only on the occassional coin. The most popular will remain the 0.900 silver version of 22.2 grams in weight. The coin is limited to 5,000 units, the ¼oz gold at 1,000. Both come in the usual Monnaie de Paris small box and with a serialised certificate of authenticity. Available to buy from the mints estore, or site sponsor Minted-UK will have them shortly. Highly recommended in both silver and gold, just one more coin to come this year (May 10th) and it will feature 18th century French feminist, Olympe de Gouges.

2017 WOMEN OF FRANCE MARQUISE DE POMPADOUR GOLD COIN

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour (29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), was a member of the French court and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, when she then became and remained a close friend and confidante to the king until her death.

She took charge of the king’s schedule and was a valued aide and advisor, despite her frail health and many political enemies. She secured titles of nobility for herself and her relatives, and built a network of clients and supporters. She was particularly careful not to alienate the Queen, Marie Leszczyńska. On February 8, 1756, the Marquise de Pompadour was named as the thirteenth lady in waiting to the queen, a position considered the most prestigious at the court, which accorded her with honors.

She was a major patron of architecture and decorative arts, such as porcelain. She was a patron of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire. Hostile critics at the time generally tarred her as a malevolent political influence, but historians are more favorable, emphasizing her successes as a patron of the arts and a champion of French pride.

2017 WOMEN OF FRANCE MARQUISE DE POMPADOUR SILVER COIN

The Marquise de Pompadour was an accomplished woman with a good eye for Rococo interiors. She played a decisive role in making Paris the perceived capital of taste and culture in Europe, and her period of influence was marked with several notable achievements. She was responsible for the development of the manufactory of Sèvres, which became one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers in Europe and which provided skilled jobs for the region.

She had a keen interest in literature. She had known Voltaire before her ascendancy, and he apparently advised her in her courtly role. After the War of the Austrian Succession, when economy was the thing the French state needed most, she drew more and more resources into the lavish court. Her influence over Louis increased markedly through the 1750s, to the point where he allowed her considerable leeway in the determination of policy over a whole range of issues, from military matters to foreign relations.

Madame de Pompadour was a woman of verve and intelligence. She planned buildings like the Place de la Concorde, the military school and the Petit Trianon with her brother, the Marquis de Marigny. She employed the stylish marchands-merciers—trendsetting shopkeepers who turned Chinese vases into ewers with gilt-bronze Rococo handles and mounted writing tables with the new Sèvres porcelain plaques. Numerous other artisans, sculptors and portrait painters were employed, among them the court artist Jean-Marc Nattier, in the 1750s François Boucher, Jean-Baptiste Réveillon and François-Hubert Drouais. She patronized Jacques Guay, the gemstone engraver, who taught her to engrave in onyx, jasper and other precious stones. Moreover, she protected the Physiocrates school (its leader was Quesnay, her own doctor) which paved the way for Adam Smith’s theories. She also defended the Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert against those, among them the Archbishop of Paris Christophe de Beaumont who sought to have it suppressed. (Source: Wikipedia)

SPECIFICATION

NAME 2017 WOMEN OF FRANCE SILVER 2017 WOMEN OF FRANCE GOLD
DENOMINATION €10 Euro €50 Euro
COMPOSITION 0.900 silver 0.999 gold
WEIGHT 22.2 grams 7.78 g
DIAMETER 37.00 mm 22.00 mm
FINISH Proof Proof
MODIFICATIONS Historical strike Historical strike
MINTAGE 5,000 1,000
BOX / COA Yes / Yes Yes / Yes