Motorbike on Route 66 (10 euro, coloured)

Route 66 is one of the most famous roads in the United States. Linking Chicago with the California coast, it crosses the country from east to west for more than 3,900 kilometres, passing through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to end in Santa Monica. The highway officially came into being in 1926, when the United States adopted a unified system of numbered federal highways, and signs bearing the number 66 went up the following year, in 1927. The road was not built from scratch: it was assembled from existing local, county and state roads, older auto trails and an old transport corridor that people and goods had followed for generations. The number 66 was the outcome of a numbering dispute: the businessman Cyrus Avery, a leading champion of a Chicago–Los Angeles route, wanted the number 60, but Kentucky successfully claimed it for its own highway, and the Oklahoma engineer John Page then found the unassigned number 66. In 1927 a highway association was founded to promote the route across the country, and by 1938 Route 66 became the first US federal highway to be fully paved. It earned the nickname «Main Street of America» because towns, cafés, motels, gas stations and roadside attractions sprang up along it. The nickname «the Mother Road» was fixed to it by John Steinbeck in his novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939). In the 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, hundreds of thousands of ruined farmers travelled along Route 66 to California in search of a better life; this great migration is the subject of the novel. After the Second World War the highway became a symbol of American prosperity and social mobility: families began to take holidays by car in large numbers, and the culture of the road trip — travelling on the open road — was born. The road was celebrated in Bobby Troup's song «(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66», first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946, it gave its name to the television series Route 66 (1960–1964), and the animated film Cars (2006) told of a small town bypassed by a new highway. From the late 1950s the construction of the modern Interstate Highway network gradually pushed Route 66 aside. Section by section it was bypassed, and on 27 June 1985 the highway was officially removed from the national road network. Today, however, as Historic Route 66 it remains a symbol of traditional America: the surviving stretches attract travellers from all over the world who come for the varied landscapes, the iconic towns, the road heritage and the spirit of freedom. Route 66 is a true cultural monument, bearing witness to the great migrations, economic growth and the changing American society of the twentieth century. To mark the centenary of the road, Monnaie de Paris has issued a collection of coins in its honour: the series highlights the historical and cultural heritage of the route, a symbol of freedom, travel and the American pioneering spirit.

This coin is the most accessible in the issue and is meant for those who want a commemorative coin for the road's anniversary without a large outlay. The design is made with colour printing: the roadway is tinted yellow, so the silvery motorbike with the number 66 for wheels literally «rides» along a golden ribbon of highway, while the white markings underline the perspective. The coin comes in the mint's blister card packaging, like other commemorative ten-euro coins of the Paris Mint, and represents the everyday format in which France's anniversary subjects reach a broad circle of collectors. This side has no cars or gas stations — all attention goes to the motorbike, while the scene shared by the issue with the pickup and the gas station appears on the other coins of the collection.

Obverse

The official side: the face value «10 EURO» between two branches, one of oak and one of laurel, which together evoke the Euro symbol; the whole design is framed by the inscription «RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE» and a series of lines symbolising the Hexagon, as the outline of France is called.

Reverse

The artistic side: a motorbike on a road filled with yellow colour. The motorbike is no accidental choice for the central image: over time it has become one of the symbols of travelling on this legendary road. The number 66 is built into the design and forms the wheels of the motorbike, directly linking the image to the famous highway. The inscription «The Mother Road» recalls the historical and cultural significance of the route, and the inscription «100 ans» («100 years») celebrates the centenary of a road whose image continues to inspire travellers all over the world. The hallmarks and the year of issue are also featured on this side.