Catalog
1 Franc with 'LIBRE'
| Issuer | Free French Forces |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | HONNEUR LIBERTÉ·EGALITE PATRIE ·FRATERNITE· 1 FC C.L.S. 1943 (Translation: Honor Liberty Equality Country Fraternity) |
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| Additional information |
The Free French Forces faced an acute shortage of coinage in their African and Pacific territories after metropolitan France fell in 1940 and Vichy controlled the established mints. This piece was struck in Pretoria, South Africa, under arrangement with the South African Mint — one of several emergency minting solutions Gaulle's administration pursued to assert administrative control over territories that had declared for the Free French.
The inclusion of "LIBRE" was a deliberate political act, distinguishing these issues from Vichy-produced coinage and from the pre-war République française series that Pétain's government had co-opted.