4017) Tour de France (the most prestigious Cycling Race in the World), France: 50th Anniversary milestone (1975-2025): Monnaie de Paris (The Paris Mint) has issued Gold and Silver Proof Coins featuring the prestigious Cycling Race: Date/Year of Coins issue: 17.06.2025:
France. Prestigious Tour de France, the most famous Cycling Race in the World Celebrates Milestone Anniversary with Gold and Silver Proof Coins
The Monnaie de Paris release collector coins highlighting the most famous cycling race in the world.
Landmarks in Lille and Paris feature on the largest Gold Coins' Obverse.
The Tour de France was first organised in 1903 by the newspaper L'Auto, with the aim of bringing public attention to the sport and, above all, increasing readership over its rival Le Vélo.
Today, the Tour de France is the 3rd most watched sporting event in the world, after the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games.
However, the three-week long race has not always ended on the Champs-Elysées as this spectacular finish dates back only to 1975, thanks to journalist Yves Mourousi.
It was his phone call to the-then President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, that he suggested the idea of the backdrop of the boulevards of Paris.
As more than 1.5 million applauding spectators lined the famous Parisian throughway, the French cyclist Bernard Thévenet crossed the finish line and was crowned winner of the 1975 Tour de France on the Champs-Elysées.
It is now this final stage which has now become un-missable and has made these repeated scenes an iconic venue for competition and celebration, engraved in the history of international sport.
For 2025, the race commenced on the 5th July in the city of Lille and concludes on the 27th July when all the riders race down the Champs-Elysées to the finish line.
The route will include 21 stages over 23 days and is over 3300 kilometres or, 2050 miles long cycling through 34 cities or villages in 11 regions. The tournament has 176 competitors in 22 teams of 8 cyclists.
This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the amended place of conclusion.
Another highlight of the race this year is after 5 years of major departures and passages abroad, the 2025 Tour de France will take place within the borders of France and there will be no foreign crossings this year. The last time the Tour was entirely on French soil was in 2020.
The Gold and Silver Coins:
Departure and arrival - €200 Gold - €10 Silver:
This coin highlights the start and finish locations of the 2025 Tour de France.
The Tour kicked off in Lille and finish on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.
A cyclist is depicted in the foreground, with his drawn shadow, going from the LILLE marker to the PARIS marker.
The ‘I’ in Lille is drawn in the shape of the Belfry, a landmark in the city and the ‘A’ in Paris is drawn as the Arc de Triomphe.
The background of the coin and the spokes are reminiscent of a bicycle wheel.
In a slanted direction above the primary design is the stylised text "TOUR DE FRANCE 2025".
The Route - €5 & €50 Gold - €10 Silver:
The focus of this coin is the official route of the Tour de France, which depicts a cyclist in front of the official route that will be taken by all participants in July 2025.
Divided in two by a line representing a stage, half of the cyclist and his bike are represented as a linear drawing.
The background of the coin and the spokes are reminiscent of a bicycle wheel.
To the left of the cyclist is the stylised text "TOUR DE FRANCE 2025".
Both designs share a common Obverse, the four jerseys of the Tour are heraldically represented in markers: the yellow jersey for the leader of the general individual classification, the green jersey for the leader of the points classification, the red polka dot jersey for the leader of the best climber classification, and the white jersey for the leader of the youth classification.
Within the markers are the initials "RF", the face value and "2025", the year of issue.
The official Tour de France logo is superimposed over the primary design near the top half. And just near the year is the mintmark and insignia of the designer.
Denomination Metal Weight Diameter Quality Mintage Limit
10 Euro .999 Silver 22.2 g. 37 mm. Proof 3000 each
5 Euro .999 Gold .05 g. 11 mm. Proof 2000
50 Euro .999 Gold 7.78 g. 22.2 mm. Proof 500
200 Euro .999 Gold 31.1 g. 37 mm. Proof 112
Available from the 17th June, each Gold and Silver Proof Coin is encapsulated and presented in a heavy-gauge card case accompanied with a Certificate Of Authenticity (COA).
Links:
1) For more on the Olympics and Paralympics held in the past, including the origins and history of the Olympics and Commemorative coins issued both on London Olympics and Paralympics please read my post on the London Olympics 2012 link as follows: History of the ancient & modern Olympics and Paralympics & commemorative coins issued during the London Olympics and Paralympics
4) For Rio 2016, please click on the following link to get interesting insights into the mascots of the Rio Olympics Vinicius and Tom, the Games and the Commemorative Coins and stamps issue programme: 1)The 31st Summer Olympics "Rio 2016"2) Commemorative Stamps and booklets issued by the Department of Posts, India on 05.08.2016
5) For Ancient Olympic Games on Greek Coins of Antiquity, please click on the following link: Ancient Olympic Games on Greek Coins of Antiquity
6) For a set of Post cards titled "Olympic Events" : please click on the following link: "Olympic Events": A set of 12 Post Cards issued by the Karnataka Postal Circle, India Post on 11.07.2016
7) For a presentation set of two stamps titled "Spirit of Olympics, Athens, Atlanta" please visit the following link: Spirit of the Olympic Games, Athens-Atlanta: Celebrating the Centenary of the Modern Olympic Games
8) For a presentation set of four stamps titled "XXVIII Olympic Games" (2004 Summer Olympics Athens, Greece, please visit the following link: XVIII Summer Olympic Games, Athens Greece (2004)
9) For a presentation set of two stamps titled "XXIX Olympic Games" (2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing, China, please visit the following link: XXIX Olympic Games Beijing, China: 08.08.08- 24.08.08: A Presentation set of four stamps issued by India Post on 08.08.08
Links to the Mutiny on the Bounty Coins/Stamps:
Links to other posts in Metropolis Tiffany Art Coin Series:
Santosh Khanna has commented:
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DeleteRajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very informative post."
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