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5 Centimes
| Issuer | Ville de Besançon (Municipality of Besançon) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Thickness | 1.3 mm |
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| Obverse description | Central field bears the municipal coat of arms of Besançon, depicted in heraldic style. The date 1917 appears immediately below the arms. The engraver's signature 'L. Hatot' is inscribed in the lower left of the field. The overall composition is restrained and emblematic, consistent with wartime emergency issue aesthetics. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The upper left portion of the reverse features a scenic vignette depicting the Besançon Citadel rising above the Pont de Bregille spanning the Doubs river, viewed from the Promenade Micaud. The lower right quadrant bears the issuer's name and the denomination in two lines. The design exemplifies the artistic regional character typical of French municipal emergency coinage of the First World War period. |
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| Additional information |
Besançon issued its own emergency coinage in 1917 under the authority of the municipal government, as the French state's wartime metal requisitions had effectively stripped normal copper and bronze coinage from circulation. Aluminium, still considered a strategic material itself, was used here because the city had access to local stocks. Hundreds of French municipalities issued similar nécessités during the First World War, but Besançon's series is among the better documented, catalogued under Elie Morin's reference work on French local emergency issues.