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20 millimes Essai uniface revers sans mot essai
| Issuer | Banque Centrale de Tunisie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1960 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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| Obverse description | Central field bears the large numeral '20' prominently displayed, with the Arabic denomination عشرون مليما (twenty millimes) inscribed below in an elegant calligraphic script. The entire central motif is encircled by an ornate decorative border of stylized foliate and floral arabesques, consisting of alternating leaf and blossom motifs arranged in a continuous band. A fine beaded inner border separates the central design from the decorative ring, while a reeded outer rim frames the entire composition. The overall design reflects the Arabesque artistic tradition characteristic of early Tunisian republican coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Uniface trial piece struck without a reverse die, resulting in a plain, polished, proof-like field on the reverse. This piece belongs to a set of seven uniface essai specimens, each struck separately on a polished planchet to produce paired obverse and reverse examples with high-gloss, proof-like surfaces. The absence of any design, legend, or inscription confirms its status as a uniface reverse pattern, and notably this example lacks the word 'ESSAI' that appears on other pieces in the series. |
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| Additional information |
The Banque Centrale de Tunisie was established in 1958, just two years after independence, replacing the colonial-era currency infrastructure tied to the French franc zone. The 1960 coinage program represented the first fully sovereign Tunisian issue under the new central bank. Essai uniface pieces — struck from the reverse die only, without an obverse — were produced as die trials for internal approval, not for circulation. The absence of the word "essai" on this particular piece places it among the earliest stages of the approval sequence, before standard trial notation was added.