25 ECU - Bastia

Bastia's Chamber of Commerce issued this piece as part of the broader French regional ECU program of the 1990s, a politically charged series that allowed municipalities and commercial bodies to mint silver souvenirs denominated in European Currency Units — the precursor accounting currency to the euro — before France had surrendered the franc. The timing was deliberate: ECU-denominated local issues were a way for pro-European institutions to normalize the currency in public consciousness ahead of the 1992 Maastricht ratification debates.

Bastia, the commercial capital of Haute-Corse, issued through its Chamber rather than the municipal government — a distinction that mattered legally for striking authority under French law.