10 Centimes Essai en aluminium de Merley, type II

Merley's second aluminium trial type for the 10 centimes sits within a broader late-19th-century French debate over whether aluminium could replace bronze in low-denomination coinage. The metal had only become commercially viable after Henri Sainte-Claire Deville's reduction process brought costs down dramatically in the 1850s and 1860s, and the Monnaie de Paris spent the following decades running systematic essais across multiple designers and alloy specifications. None resulted in an adopted circulating type — the weight and conductivity problems proved insurmountable for the period's vending infrastructure.

GEM 27.8 distinguishes this as the second of Merley's submitted variants, differing from type I in its edge treatment.