Universum13_44                
1848 Meyer print MONNAIE DE PARIS (PARIS MINT), FRANCE (#44)

Nice print titled Die Münze in Paris, from  steel engraving with fine detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring,  approx. page size is 23 x 18 cm, approx. image size is 16 x 10 cm. Print was published in Germany in Meyer's Universum by Bibliographic Institute Hildburghausen.

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Monnaie de Paris

The Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint), created in 864, is the oldest French institution. Administratively speaking, the "Direction of Coins and Medals", the national mint is an administration of the French government charged with issuing coins as well as producing medals and other similar items. Many ancient coins are housed in the collections maintained there. Though in the Middle Ages there were numerous other mints in provincial cities officially issuing legitimate French coinage struck in the name of the ruler, the Monnaie de Paris has always been the prime issuer.

Building in Paris

A Neoclassical edifice, the Hôtel de la Monnaie was designed by Jacques-Denis Antoine and built from 1767–1775 on the Left Bank of the Seine. The Monnaie was the first major civic monument undertaken by Antoine, yet shows a high level of ingenuity on the part of the architect. Today it is considered a key example of French Neoclassicism in pre-Revolutionary Paris. The building is typified by its heavy external rustication and severe decorative treatment. It boasts one of the longest façades on the Seine; its appearance has been likened to the Italian palazzo tradition. The building, which housed mint workshops, administrative rooms, and residential quarters, wraps around a large interior courtyard. It remains open to the public and includes a numismatics museum, located within what was once the main foundry.

Hôtel des Monnaies, Paris

The hôtel des Monnaies is an 18th-century building on the quai Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It has housed the Monnaie de Paris ever since its construction. The nearest Paris Metro station is Pont Neuf.

It is the masterwork of the architect Jacques Denis Antoine (1733–1801), who in 1765 beat Étienne-Louis Boullée and François Dominique Barreau de Chefdeville in a competition to design it. Though it was his first major civic project he shows a high level of ingenuity. The first stone was laid by abbé Terray on 30 April 1771. The riverside façade was completed in 1773 and the whole exterior and most of the interior by 1775. In 1776 the building won Antoine entrance to the Académie royale d'architecture. It is still considered a prime example of pre-Revolutionary French Neoclassical architecture.

The building is typified by its heavy external rustication and severe decorative treatment. It boasts one of the longest façades on the Seine; its appearance has been likened to the Italian palazzo tradition. The building, which housed mint workshops, administrative rooms, and residential quarters, wraps around a large interior courtyard. It remains open to the public and includes a numismatics museum, located within what was once the main foundry.