This is an essai struck by the Monnaie de Paris in 1913, part of a broader experimental program exploring nickel coinage for everyday circulation — a material France was still evaluating cautiously, given nickel's industrial associations and the entrenched preference for bronze in small denominations. The "small module" designation distinguishes it from a concurrent larger-diameter trial of the same Peter design, both produced without any intent of immediate circulation.
The piece never entered production. France's coinage priorities shifted abruptly with the outbreak of war in 1914, and the entire pattern series from this period was rendered moot.
This is an essai struck by the Monnaie de Paris in 1913, part of a broader experimental program exploring nickel coinage for everyday circulation — a material France was still evaluating cautiously, given nickel's industrial associations and the entrenched preference for bronze in small denominations. The "small module" designation distinguishes it from a concurrent larger-diameter trial of the same Peter design, both produced without any intent of immediate circulation.
The piece never entered production. France's coinage priorities shifted abruptly with the outbreak of war in 1914, and the entire pattern series from this period was rendered moot.