Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
10 Centimes
| Issuer | Unions Commerciales d'Oyonnax et Bellegarde (Ain) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1795-1959) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Within the octagonal flan, the legend UNIONS COMMERCIALES curves along the upper periphery, while the departmental attribution (AIN) appears along the lower periphery. The town names OYONNAX and BELLEGARDE are inscribed in large capital letters across the central field in two lines, separated by a small decorative lozenge ornament above. The overall layout presents the issuer's identity in a plain, utilitarian style characteristic of French municipal emergency coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The large denomination numeral '10' dominates the central field, accompanied by the abbreviation 'c' for centimes to the lower right, rendered in bold relief. The design is enclosed by a continuous inner border of raised beads (grenetis) following the octagonal outline of the flan, leaving a plain flat margin between the bead border and the coin's edge. The reverse is otherwise devoid of ornament, emphasizing the purely functional character of this wartime necessity piece. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Oyonnax and Bellegarde are two small Ain département towns whose commercial unions issued this aluminium token during the First World War, when the hoarding of bronze and copper coins created acute small-change shortages across provincial France. Hundreds of local chambers of commerce and merchant associations filled the gap with privately struck necessities between roughly 1914 and 1922. The Ain issues are among the less-documented regional groups; El Monnier's catalogue reference 10.2 distinguishes this from at least one other variety in the same series.