10 Centimes - Ahmad II

Tunisia's zinc coinage of 1941–42 was a direct consequence of the metal shortages imposed by the Vichy French administration, which had been stripping strategic materials for the German war effort since the armistice of 1940. Copper and nickel had effectively disappeared from colonial minting programs across French North Africa. Ahmad II, the Husainid bey under whose name these pieces were struck, held almost entirely ceremonial authority — real administrative power sat with the Resident-General in Tunis.

Zinc proved notoriously difficult to strike cleanly, and corrosion in circulation was rapid in the North African climate.