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20 Centimes - Muhammad VIII
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
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| Currency | Franc (1891-1957) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Reverse description | The reverse features the denomination '20 CENTIMES' prominently inscribed across the upper field, with 'TUNISIE' arching above along the outer border and 'PROTECTORAT FRANÇAIS' running along the lower periphery. Flanking the central round hole are two crossed sprigs — an olive branch to the left and a wheat or laurel branch to the right — symbolising prosperity and the agricultural character of the protectorate. The Gregorian year '1945' appears below the hole between the two sprigs. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border, consistent with Bazor's restrained Art Deco style. |
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| Additional information |
Muhammad VIII al-Amin was installed as Bey of Tunis by the French Residency in 1943, partly in response to the brief Axis occupation of Tunisia and the political complications it created with the incumbent Ahmed II. These zinc issues were a wartime expedient — France's metal supplies were strangled, and zinc had replaced copper-nickel across French colonial coinage during the occupation years. The Monnaie de Paris continued striking them into 1945 even as the war ended, filling a circulation void that better alloys couldn't yet address.
Zinc corrodes aggressively in humid Mediterranean conditions, and Tunisian examples typically show more surface deterioration than comparable French metropolitan issues of the same period.