2018-12-07 Fri

France is going to mark the death anniversary of one of the greatest 20th-century poets, Guillaume Apollinaire, by issuing 10-euro silver and 50-euro gold commemorative coins. The obverse features a calligram by Guillaume Apollinaire on Eiffel Tower. Landscapes from his poem “Pont Mirabeau”, is recreated in the background. The obverse also features a mark of current mint master Yves Sampo made of a pentagon with letters AG, MP and YS. The reverse features Guillaume’s portrait. Fir trees are shown in the background, representing an element from his poem called “Les Sapins”. Other inscriptions on the reverse include the face value, artist name and Monnaie de Paris mintmark – cornucopia. The mintage limit of the 22.2 g .900 Silver Proof 10 Euro coin is 1,000 pieces, while that of the 7.78 g .999 Gold Proof 50 Euro coin is 200 pieces. The silver coin has a diameter of 32 mm, while that of the gold coin is 22 mm.

French poet Guglielmo de Kostrowitzky, popularly known as Guillaume Apollinaire, was born on 26th August 1880. He was deeply interested in political, literally and aesthetic subjects. He is also known as the father of Surrealism and his ideas had a lot of influence on other artists as well as poets. He was an inspiration for other famous poets who worked on surrealism, like Andre Breton, Louis Aragon, and Philippe Soupault. Guillaume was known for his calligrams and acrostic poems. Alcohol and Calligrams, “Chanson du mal-aimé” or “Le Pont Mirabeau” are considered to be some of his greatest works.

Image Courtesy: Monnaie de Paris