Catalog
2 Francs
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1959-1965 |
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| Engraver(s) | Lucien Georges Bazor |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE L.BAZOR GB 1965 (Translation: FRENCH REPUBLIC) |
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| Mintage | 1959 - - 200,000 1965 - - 240,000 |
| Additional information |
This issue belongs to the first coinage of the Fifth Republic, authorized under de Gaulle's new constitutional order following the collapse of the Fourth Republic in 1958. The entire aluminum-magnesium franc series was itself a product of the 1960 redenomination, which replaced 100 old francs with one nouveau franc — a move designed to signal economic stabilization after years of postwar inflation and the financial hemorrhaging of the Indochina and Algerian wars.
Aluminum coinage at this denomination was a deliberate concession to cost; France had been minting subsidiary coins in base metals since the postwar shortages never fully resolved at the lower denominations.