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1 ECU - Valreas
| Issuer | Enclave des Papes (Valréas) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1994 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a detailed engraved perspective view of the Valréas town hall (Hôtel de Ville), depicted in a linear architectural style with fine incised lines rendering the facade, windows, and surrounding grounds. Decorative olive and wheat branches flank the upper right portion of the building in the field. Below the architectural vignette, the inscription 'ECU DE L'ENCLAVE DES PAPES' is displayed in two lines across the lower field, with the word 'ECU' rendered in a large stylised script incorporating the euro symbol. |
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| Reverse lettering | ECU DE L'ENCLAVE DES PAPES |
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| Additional information |
Valréas is a peculiar case in French administrative geography: a commune belonging to the Vaucluse department entirely surrounded by the Drôme, a landlocked enclave created when the papacy purchased the town in 1317 and never corrected by subsequent boundary reforms. The 1994 ECU issues produced by French communes and regional entities exploited a deliberate ambiguity in EU treaty language — local authorities issued them as trade tokens or souvenirs timed to the Maastricht Treaty's momentum, with no legal tender status but wide local merchant acceptance.
Valréas leaned into its papal history as the obvious framing device for the series, a marketing hook the town has never entirely abandoned since de Gaulle granted it the ceremonial title "Enclave des Papes" in 1963.