3 Euros - Cassis

One of hundreds of local emergency currency issues produced across France in 1997 under a brief window of municipal authorization, the Cassis 3-euro piece belongs to a peculiar transitional moment: French towns scrambling to issue souvenir-cum-circulation tokens in the gap between the franc and the anticipated euro. Cassis, a small fishing port east of Marseille, was among the communes that seized the promotional opportunity. These pieces were legal tender locally at participating merchants for a limited period, a scheme that collapsed in relevance well before actual euro coins arrived in 2002.