1 Franc

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.