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20 Francs Pattern
| Issuer | France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1929 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Uniface essai strike presenting a plain, unadorned field with no central design or legend. The coin is struck on one side only, leaving the obverse entirely blank as part of the trial piece production process. The flan shows the characteristic texture of a silver-plated bronze blank, with a milled border visible at the periphery. This uniface pattern corresponds to the proposed 20 Francs coinage of 1929 engraved by Pierre Turin, intended to carry the inscriptions 20 / FRANCS / 1929 / LIBERTE / EGALITE / FRATERNITE / ESSAI on the reverse die. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
France's interwar monetary reform proposals generated numerous pattern issues throughout the late 1920s as the government struggled to stabilize the franc following postwar inflation. This 1929 piece was never adopted for circulation — the 20 franc denomination would eventually be realized in aluminum-bronze, not silver, when the definitive type finally appeared in 1950. The silver-plated bronze construction is itself diagnostic of pattern-stage economics: a cheap substrate dressed to approximate the appearance of a precious metal coin for presentation and approval purposes.