1 Ghirsh / Piastre WW2 War Coinage, Duralumin Pattern

Lebanon in 1941 was under the administration of Vichy France, and the Free French forces under General Catroux seized control of the territory that June. The disruption to normal metal supply chains — and the broader wartime rationing of copper, nickel, and other strategic metals — forced experimental approaches to subsidiary coinage across French-controlled territories. Duralumin, an aluminum-copper alloy developed primarily for aircraft construction, was trialed as a substitute. This piece is a pattern, never approved for circulation.