2 Francs Reverse without legend

Struck during the collapse of the Second Empire and the chaos of the Franco-Prussian War, this type was produced without the customary reverse legend as a deliberate omission — the phrase "Empire Français" had become politically untenable following Napoleon III's capture at Sedan in September 1870, and the newly proclaimed Third Republic had not yet settled on replacement wording. The bare reverse was a stopgap, not an aesthetic choice.

Production spanned the Siege of Paris itself, when the mint operated under Prussian encirclement.