25 Ecus de Mazamet [81]

Mazamet, a small industrial town in the Tarn department of southern France, built its economy almost entirely on the délainage industry — the process of stripping wool from imported sheepskins, primarily from Argentina and Australia. By the 1990s that industry had collapsed, and the town was in serious decline. The Amicale Numismatique du Midi issued this piece as part of the broader French local ecu movement, which flourished briefly after the Maastricht Treaty created anxiety about the imminent loss of the franc.

The series number [81] corresponds to the departmental code for Tarn.