20 Francs - Louis II Essai

Monaco's postwar coinage was in disarray following the occupation years, and the Monnaie de Paris produced several pattern and essai strikes in 1947 as the principality worked to establish a coherent new currency framework under Louis II. This piece is one of those trial strikes — produced for official evaluation, not circulation — which explains why surviving examples show virtually no wear regardless of where they surface.

Louis II died in May 1949, meaning this essai was struck less than two years before the entire coinage program it was meant to inform passed to his successor Rainier III.