| Description : La Semeuse (The Sower) is a French allegory invented by
Oscar Roty around 1887. The young woman in a Phrygian cap sowing seeds at sunrise became over time one of the symbols of
the French Republic, depicted in particular on coins. On the third commemorative coin, dedicated to the Summer Olympics to
be held in Paris in 2024, the sowing woman is depicted in the pose of a pugilist, wearing modern boxing gloves. Pugilism
was first a discipline at the 23rd Ancient Olympics in 688 BC. The logo of the Games, "PARiS 2024" and the
five Olmpic rings are depicted on the right, integrated into the running tracks concentrically surrounding the motif in the
background of the national stadium Stade de France, which opened in 1998 and seats 75,000 spectators for athletics. The
architectural motif of the coin is the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), built under King Henry IV from 1578 to 1607, which
crosses the western tip of the Île de la Cité (City Island) lying in the Seine near the Louvre Palace, with
the Place Dauphine (Square of the Successor to the Throne), whose peripheral buildings are visible above the bridge on the
left. "2023" is shown as the year of issue on the right‐hand arch of the bridge, the country abbreviation "RF"
(République française, French Republic) is on the left. A cornucopia is depicted at the bottom left as the
mint mark of the French mint Monnaie de Paris in Plessac, and at the bottom right the square mintmaster's mark of
the French chief engraver and coin designer Joaquin Jimenez. |
