FRENCH REPUBLIC
50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF MARIE CURIE
100 GOLD FRANCS COMMEMORATIVE
CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO
OBV: PORTRAIT BUST OF MARIE CURIE RIGHT; LIFE DATES BENEATH.
REV: A DOUBLE WREATH OF PALM AND LAUREL SPRAYS FRAMING THE FRENCH WORDS FOR PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY; DATE ABOVE AND DENOMINATION BELOW.
KM # 955b
MARIE SLADOWSKA-CURIE (b. 1867, d. 1934) WAS BORN IN THE KINGDOM OF POLAND WHICH WAS THEN PART OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. SHE STUDIED IN SECRET AT THE FLYING or "FLOATING" UNIVERSITY IN WARSAW, WHICH SOUGHT TO PROVIDE A MEANS OF EDUCATING POLISH YOUTHS WHO FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN A HIGHER EDUCATION, AS WELL AS TO UNDERMININE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN IDEOLOGY AND RUSSIAIZATION. AT AGE 24 SHE WENT TO PARIS TO PURSUE HIGHER DEGREES. IN 1891 SHE MET PIERRE CURIE, AND THERE MUTUAL INTERESTS AND PASSION FOR SCIENCE ENGENDERED THEIR FEELINGS FOR ONE ANOTHER.
MARIE RETURNED TO WARSAW IN 1894, BUT WAS DENIED A PLACE AT KRAKOW UNIVERSITY BECAUSE SHE WAS A WOMAN. SHE RETURNED TO PARIS TO PERSUE HER PHD, AND SHE REKINDLED HER RELATIONSHIP WITH PIERRE CURIE. THEY WERE MARRIED IN 1895 AND WERE NOT ONLY HUSBAND AND WIFE BUT SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATORS.
IN 1905 SHE SHARED THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS WITH HER HUSBAND AND ANOTHER FRENCH COLLEGUE, AND SHE THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE THUS HONORED. IN 1911 SHE WON THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY. THE CURRIE'S RESEARCH INTO RADIOACTIVITY (A WORD COINED BY MARIE) AND THEIR STUDIES OF URANIUM, AND HER EXPOSURE TO RADIATION FROM X-RAYS WOULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO MARIE'S ILLNESS AND DEATH (PIERRE DIED AN ACCENDTAL DEATH, RUN OVER BY A HORSECART IN 1906). HER ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDED TECHNIQUES FOR ISOLATING RADIACTIVE ISOTOPES, THE DISCOVERY OF TWO ELEMENTS (POLLONIUM AND RADIUM), AS WELL AS ESTABLISHING THE FIRST MILITARY FIELD RADIOLOGICAL CENTERS OR MOBILE X-RAY UNITS. SHE WAS THE ONLY WOMAN TO WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE IN MULTIPLE SCIENCES AND ALSO THE ONLY WOMAN TO WIN IN TWO FIELDS. SHE WAS THE FIRST WOMAN PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS, AND ALTHOUGH SHE BECAME A NATURALIZED FRENCH CITIZEN SHE NEVER LOST HER POLISH IDENTITY. BOTH MARIE AND PIERRE CURIE WERE ENTOMBED IN 1996 IN THE PANTHÉON IN PARIS IN HONOR OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS.
CONTAINS 17 GRAMS OF .920 FINE GOLD (.5028 OZ AGW)
31 MM IN DIAMETER
ENGRAVER RAYMOND CORBIN
