20 Cents Pattern, purity counterstamped

In 1919, the Monnaie de Paris produced a series of pattern pieces exploring potential coinage reforms in the aftermath of wartime financial disruption. This particular piece carries a purity counterstamp applied at the mint — a practice considered for French colonial and metropolitan issues where metal content verification needed to be unambiguous at point of use. The counterstamp was never adopted for circulation coinage.

Lecompte 215 is among the less frequently encountered references in French pattern literature, appearing rarely at auction outside specialized Paris sales.