The Paris Mint announced that the faces of Simone Veil, Marie Curie and Joséphine Baker would now adorn the 10, 20 and 50 centime coins. Until now and since the establishment of the Republic, France has never featured, on its coins, any person who existed.
No other European power would have dreamed of drawing its symbols from the members of relatively recent governments, especially to embody a centuries-old nation. The Banque de France has decided to apply this tool to develop a brand image of France as a progressive nation par excellence.