Since 2010, the French Excellence series has combined the exceptional know-how of a brand from the Comité Colbert or a French cultural institution with that of the Paris Mint, resulting in a unique collection that conjugates their respective talents.

⁣⁢To celebrate the anniversary of the opening of the Musée d'Orsay, Joaquin Jimenez, engraver
General of the Paris Mint, drew his inspiration from the building of the Musée d'Orsay
and its collections, masterfully translating details of works and architecture.⁤⁣

OBVERSE

⁣⁢On the obverse of this exceptional coin, valued at 5,000 euros and measuring 95 mm x 95 mm,
several characters, drawn from iconic works, interact under the glass roof of
the nave, as if they were awake and discovering the museum together.
In the foreground, François Pompon's White Bear and Vincent van
Gogh's Portrait of the Artist stand side by side; behind them are Édouard Manet's The Fifer and Claude Monet's
Woman with a Parasol Facing Left. Also featured is Edgar Degas's Little
Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, captured inside the building, in front of the large
clock on the fifth floor. In one gesture, all these decorative elements are incorporated into the
reproduction of the frame of the large clock, a flagship object, if ever there was one, of the history of the
Musée d'Orsay building.⁤⁣

REVERSE

⁣⁢On the reverse of this one-kilogram gold coin, the main subject relates to the architectural
structure of the Musée d'Orsay. It features four of the caissons decorated with rosettes that adorn the nave. They are enclosed in a metal structure decorated with rivets,
reproducing the rhythm of the nave's ceiling, unchanged since the creation of the Gare d'Orsay.⁤⁣