Spain 100 Pesetas Silver Coin 1966 Francisco Franco
Obverse: Bust of Francisco Franco facing right surrounded by legend.
Lettering: FRANCISCO FRANCO CAUDILLO DE ESPANA POR LA G. DE DIOS 19 1966 66
Comments: Variety of the years are marked inside the star.
Reverse: Spanish heraldic symbols within flower design, crown and denomination on top: Shield of the Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom and Crown of Aragón, Kingdom of Navarre, Kingdom of León.
Lettering: 100 PTAS.
Edge Plain with excuse lettering.
Lettering: UNA GRANDE LIBRE.
Metal: Silver (.800).
Weight: 19 g.
Diameter: 34 mm.
Thickness: 2.4 mm.
Shape: Round.
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and the head of state of Spain from 1936/1939 until his death in 1975. Coming from a military family background, he became the youngest general in Spain and one of the youngest generals in Europe in the 1920s.
As a strong conservative, he was shocked when the monarchy was removed and replaced with a republic in 1931. With the 1936 elections, the conservatives lost by a narrow margin and the leftist Popular Front came to power. Looking to overthrow the republic, Franco and other generals staged a partially successful coup, which started the Spanish Civil War. With the death of the other generals, Franco quickly became his faction's only leader.
Franco's ultranationalist faction received military support from several fascist groups, most notably from Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy, while the Republican side was supported by Spanish communists and anarchists. It also received help from the Soviet Union, Mexico, and the International Brigades. Leaving half a million dead, the war was eventually won by Franco in 1939. He established an autocratic dictatorship, which he defined as a totalitarian state. Franco proclaimed himself as both head of state and government under the title El Caudillo (the Chief), a term similar to Il Duce (Italian) and Der Führer (German). During the Francoist regime, only one political party was legal: a merger of the monarchist party and the fascist party that helped him during the war, FET y de las JONS.
Franco led a series of politically-motivated violent acts, including but not limited to concentration camps, forced labor and executions, mostly against political and ideological enemies, causing an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths, depending on how death in the more than 190 concentration camps is considered. Franco's Spain maintained an official policy of neutrality during World War II, with the exception of the Blue Division. By the 1950s, the nature of his regime changed from an extreme form of dictatorship to a semi-pluralist authoritarian system. During the Cold War Franco appeared as one of the world’s foremost anticommunist figures; consequently his regime was assisted by the United States, and was asked to join the United Nations and come under NATO's protection. By the 1960s Spain saw progressive economic development and timid democratic improvements.
After a 36-year rule, Franco died in 1975. He restored the monarchy before his death, which made King Juan Carlos I his successor; he betrayed Franco and led the Spanish transition to democracy. After a referendum, a new constitution was adopted, which effectively created a democratic regime in Spain.