Spiky designs from the Paris Mint

[<k>]

The chunky brass French 10 francs coin is one of my favourites.

It was introduced in 1974 and was last minted in 1987.

The obverse and reverse designs were the work of Georges Mathieu.

They look like no other design I have seen.

[<k>]

But wait - I am wrong. I just noticed another spiky design today.

It is also a product of the Paris Mint: the 500 francs coin of 1976 to 1984 of the Central African States.

Did Georges Mathieu also design this coin? No. Numista says: 'Robert Cochet d'après Pierrette Lambert.'

[<k>]

Going back in time, here is the French Polynesia 20 francs coin of 1967.

The designs are the work of Raymond Joly.

Joly liked to experiment with different fonts and design styles.

Did he influence the creators of the designs shown in the posts upthread?

[Figleaf]

They look like no other design I have seen.

At least at that size you can make some sense of the design. In real size, it looks like a clutter of random lines. No wonder that if you look at the design starting from the right, you see a screaming Marianne, head exploding.

Before my eye operation, my brain, desperate to construct something, anything out of the reverse always came up with WHAMMM below the bar with the denomination. I wonder if Mathieu ever worked for Marvel comics.

Peter