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1 Franc - Saint Menehould 51
| Issuer | Union Commerciale de Sainte-Menehould |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Within a beaded border, the monogram 'U.C.M' appears prominently in large raised letters across the upper field, representing the Union Commerciale de Sainte-Menehould. A small decorative device separates the monogram from the curved legend 'STE MENEHOULD' inscribed along the lower periphery in capital letters. |
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| Reverse lettering | 1F- |
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| Additional information |
Sainte-Menehould is the Marne town where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were recognized and arrested during their flight to Varennes in June 1791 — a detail locals have never quite let go of. This token was issued by the town's merchant union, almost certainly during the First World War when small change disappeared from circulation as the public hoarded metal coinage and the state struggled to meet demand. Such emergency commercial tokens, known in French as monnaie de nécessité, flooded provincial France between 1914 and 1922, with merchant cooperatives effectively replacing the state's retail monetary function.