Cotignac is a commune in the Var department best known for its troglodyte dwellings carved into a tufa cliff face — but in 1997 it joined dozens of French villages issuing local euro-denominated tokens ahead of the single currency's 1999 launch. These "villages euro" pieces were a promotional initiative coordinated by the French numismatic federation, designed to familiarize the public with euro denominations before official coinage arrived. They had no legal tender status and circulated only within participating merchants in each locality.
Cotignac is a commune in the Var department best known for its troglodyte dwellings carved into a tufa cliff face — but in 1997 it joined dozens of French villages issuing local euro-denominated tokens ahead of the single currency's 1999 launch. These "villages euro" pieces were a promotional initiative coordinated by the French numismatic federation, designed to familiarize the public with euro denominations before official coinage arrived. They had no legal tender status and circulated only within participating merchants in each locality.