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2 Francs Double piedfort
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 10.3 g |
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| Obverse description | Left-facing draped bust of Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap, executed in the neoclassical style by engraver L. Bazor. The legend REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE UNION FRANCAISE arcs around the periphery, with the engraver's signature L BAZOR and the initials GB appearing in the field. The inscription ESSAI and the date 1948 are also present, confirming the piece's trial-strike status. Sailing ships appear in the background of the field, referencing maritime trade and colonial commerce. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 1948 |
| Additional information |
Piédforts are not commemoratives in any conventional sense — they are essentially certification strikes, produced by the Paris Mint as internal proofs of die quality and legal specification. The 1948 aluminium double piédfort for the 2 Francs represents exactly that function: a die-verification piece struck at twice the standard planchet thickness, in a year when the Fourth Republic was still rationalizing its postwar coinage after the monetary disruptions of the Occupation and Liberation.
Aluminium was adopted for French fractional coinage partly because postwar metal allocations made copper and nickel difficult to source reliably. That a double piédfort exists in this humble metal remains a bureaucratic curiosity specific to the period.