'Civilisation' is a notion describing a real phenomenon whose existence spreads over a long stretch of time. By means of French coins we are able to follow the constitution, the organisation and the political outcome of one of the planet's oldest politically constituted countries. The Germans' country has existed for a hundred and twenty years, the Belgians' for a hundred and sixty, the Americans' for two hundred and ten.
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England, if one takes the Battle of Hastings as the foundation of its monarchy, is very ancient, more than nine hundred years old.

France has existed as a political entity for at least a thousand years ; Hugues Capet, the founder of the French monarchy, was crowned king of France in 987 A.D.

France has existed as a religious entity, the eldest daughter of the Church, for one thousand, five hundred years: ever since the baptism of Clovis by Saint Rémi, in 498. Clovis is the Clodwig of the Franks, the Ludwig of the Germans, the Lewis of the Anglo-Saxons and the Louis of the French.

France has existed as a geographical and human entity for approximately two thousand, five hundred years. The map of Gaul described by Julius Caesar effectively already covered France which, since then, has only lost Switzerland, Belgium and Holland, but already had its natural borders.

French numismatics, which began around 600B.C. with the striking done by the Greek settlers, on the Mediterranean coast, offers an extraordinary opportunity of following the evolution of western civilisation in a country whose duration covers practically half of known human History.

Numismatics allows one to choose the era to which one is most sensitive, that of the Celts, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the century of the philosophers, the Revolution, Napoleon, the Industrial Revolution, the modern world. It also allows one to collect, at accessible prices, even very rare and very important coins. For how long ?