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1 Franc
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Franc |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Winged effigy of Liberty facing left, rendered in the modernist style by engraver L. Bazor, with two stylised modern vessels depicted in the lower field to either side behind the head. The date 1948 appears in the exergue. The encircling legend reads REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE UNION FRANÇAISE, with the engraver's signature L.BAZOR and mintmaster's initials GB also present in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 1948 - Lec#4 - 600,000 |
| Additional information |
France's postwar aluminum franc series was a direct consequence of wartime metal shortages and the near-total disruption of the Monnaie de Paris during the Occupation. The switch to aluminum was practical necessity, not design philosophy — copper and nickel were still being prioritized for industrial reconstruction well into the late 1940s.
The 1948 issue falls within the Fourth Republic's unstable opening years, when France cycled through governments at a pace that made monetary policy nearly impossible to coordinate. Aluminum coinage from this period circulated hard and wore quickly.