Catalog
1 Franc Alhambra - Alger
| Issuer | Alhambra (Algiers) |
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| Year | |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Obverse description | Left-facing draped bust of Marianne, the allegorical figure of the French Republic, wearing a ribbon in her hair with loose curls falling to the neck. The effigy is framed on either side by laurel branches tied at the base with a ribbon bow. The circular legend REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE runs along the upper periphery. The engraver's signature BORY appears in small letters at the lower base of the bust. |
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| Obverse lettering | REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE BORY |
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| Additional information |
The Alhambra was one of several large café-restaurants and entertainment venues in colonial Algiers that issued their own token coinage for internal circulation — a practice common across French North Africa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These brass jetons functioned as change or prepaid drink tokens, keeping transactions efficient in busy establishments and discouraging staff theft. The issuing venue, not the colonial administration, controlled supply entirely.