Stylized, ultra-precise and extremely refined, the Lacoste codes come to life under the expert hands of the Monnaie de Paris craftsmen, keepers of a thousand-year-old know-how.

On the most precious metals, their embossed and debossed engravings reproduce as accurately as possible the scales of a crocodile, the powdery texture of clay, the piqué" of the Original L.12.12 polo shirt or even the dimples of a golf ball. The institution's coin makers, engravers and polishers succeed one another for an exceptional result: a special collector's coin that pays tribute to Lacoste.

In the shape of a racket, gold and silver coins have the value of legal currency. Designed and minted by the Monnaie de Paris, they honour two facets of René Lacoste, who was both a tennis champion and, in 1963, inventor of the first steel racket. On the front side, the illusion is perfect: string, ultra-realistic handle, tennis ball and crocodile. On the flip side, the year, the emblematic cotton piqué motif in place of the string, the face value - whose zeros take the form of tennis balls - and the top of the Lacoste polo shirt, upon which the stringing reappears.

The gold and silver coins are round and have just as much substance. While the front side mixes crocodile skin print, petit piqué knit and a golf ball, the flip side is ultra-stylised: between the white lines, René Lacoste is back on court. Above him, the crocodile is watchful...