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5 Centimes Essai en maillechort de Dupré à 12 pans
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Dodecagonal (12-sided) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse features a bold central numeral and denomination inscription indicating the face value of 5 CENTIMES, accompanied by the word ESSAI denoting its pattern status. The Republican motto LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE is distributed around the field or along the legend, framing the central device within the twelve-sided planchet. The overall design is characteristic of late 19th-century French Republic essai coinage intended to test a new alloy and format. |
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| Reverse lettering | LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE 5 CENTIMES A ESSAI |
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| Additional information |
The 1881 essai series produced by the Monnaie de Paris represented a sustained institutional effort to find a workable replacement for bronze in small denomination coinage — nickel silver (maillechort) being evaluated for its resistance to wear and its cleaner strike properties. Dupré's dodecagonal design was one of several competing proposals tested that year. None were adopted for circulation; France retained bronze for its centimes through the decade, and these pieces survived almost exclusively in presentation and proof state.