The One Piece 25th Anniversary Coin

“Gold Roger, the ‘King of the Pirates’ had achieved it all. Wealth, fame, and power had all been his… (With a smirk) My treasure? Why, it’s right where I left it… It’s yours if you can find it… But you’ll have to search the Whole World!” Thus begins One Piece by Eiichiro Oda, a series that started in Romance Dawn in 1996 and began as a weekly regular starting July 22, 1997, published in Weekly Shonen Jump.

One Piece is a manga – a Japanese comic or graphic novel that finds its origin in the 19th century. Since the 1950s, manga has become a large industry and significantly influenced culture around the world. The value of the manga market in 2022 was recorded as ¥675.9 billion or about $5.12 billion (USD). One Piece, just one of these media franchises, has been recorded to gross over $20.515 billion (USD) since its release.

One Piece is a story that follows Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose dream is to follow Gol D. Roger and become “King of the Pirates” and find the “One Piece” Roger’s treasure, as he travels around the world building a crew and having adventures. Luffy has also eaten a “Devil Fruit,” a cursed fruit that, when eaten, will gift the person who ate it with a power – but that person will also be cursed with the inability to swim. Having eaten the “Gomu Gomu no Mi” or “Gum Gum” fruit, Luffy’s body now has the properties of rubber. Each crew member in turn has their own history, dreams, and aspirations building the story and the readers investment.

The success of One Piece is in the building of the franchise’s universe and the character development of Eiichiro Oda. The world of One Piece consists of two vast oceans divided by the Red Line, a massive mountain range. In the oceans is a phenomenon known as the Grand Line, in which the sea runs perpendicular to the Red Line within two Calm Belts. This makes traversing the globe difficult for most. Besides the harsh geography, the world is populated by more than humans; between 19 and 36 other humanoid groups exist. Most of this world is governed by an organization called the World Government, with the Navy serving as their military branch. As the story develops issues of sociopolitical issues and other conflicts become major parts of the story.

While One Piece has been published regularly since 1997 in Japan, it has only grown in popularity since its inception. As of this writing, One Piece is on Chapter 1120, and the manga has been translated into virtually every major language officially and unofficially (by fans). In 1999, Toei Animation premiered the anime (animation episodic show), which is still being released today with over 1,100 episodes. An additional 15 anime movies have been released for One Piece. Even a live action adaptation of One Piece made by Netflix was released in August 2023. Other media formats, such as video games, music, art, and a card game, have all been released under the One Piece banner.

In 2024, the Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint) issued commemorative coins for One Piece to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the anime series’ first broadcast in Japan. The two Paris Mint issues are the first official coins to commemorate One Piece. A 10 euro coin is minted in .999-fine silver while a 50 euro coin contains a quarter-ounce of gold. Both coins share the same design depicting the main character Monkey D. Luffy and his iconic straw hat with his Jolly Roger on the obverse. The reverse features the Thousand Sunny, the second ship of the Straw Hat Pirates. The silver coin has a mintage limit of only 5,000 while the gold has a maximum output of a mere 500 pieces.

Why is France issuing a commemorative coin for a Japanese manga series? The answer is simple… One Piece is a cultural icon that transcends borders. In France, One Piece is the best-selling manga with sales of 31.80 million copies by 2022 and over a million volumes sold each year. The Monnaie de Paris has produced coins featuring several other cross-culturally iconic important intellectual properties over the years, including Hello Kitty.