2017-04-18 Tue

France will be releasing three new 2017 Modern Warfare commemorative coins to observe hundred years of World War I on 5th May. This would be the fourth annual issue of the Great War series that began in 2014.

In 1917, innovative air and tank power were used for fighting. U.S. soldiers joined the fight when President Woodrow Wilson’s request for a declaration of war was approved by Congress. All the Modern Warfare coins feature the same design except the denomination on the reverse. The obverse depicts families looking at planes in the sky between poppy and the cornflower fields. Fighter pilot Georges Guynemer’s SPAD biplane is about to take off. The battlefield has two Saint-Chamond tanks and an American soldier is depicted in the foreground. Cornflower was the only colourful thing on the ground that was converted to trenches which were an important warfare technique introduced during World War I.

The 22.2 grams Proof .900 fine silver €10 coin has a mintage limit of 5,000 pieces; the 7.78 grams Proof .999 fine gold €50 coin has a mintage limit of 1,917 pieces and is priced at €495; the 31.10 grams Proof .999 fine gold €200 coin has a mintage limit of 500 pieces and each one costs €2,100.