5 centimes Cérès Épreuve en maillechort de Oudiné

By 1883, the Cérès type had long since been replaced in circulation — the bronze 5 centimes of this design saw its last regular striking in 1856. This piece is a late épreuve, struck at the Monnaie de Paris in maillechort (the French term for nickel silver, a copper-zinc-nickel alloy) as a trial of the Oudiné dies rather than for any intended monetary use. Eugène-André Oudiné had died in 1868, making these post-mortem trials from his original working dies a recurring practice at the Paris mint.