5 centimes Essai en nickel de Pillet

This 1913 nickel essai by engraver Henri Pillet was a trial submission during France's extended search for a workable small-denomination coin that could replace the bronze centimes then falling out of practical use. The Monnaie de Paris produced pattern pieces in multiple metals during this period, and Pillet contributed several competing designs. None of his essais entered circulation — the broader coinage reform effort was overtaken by the outbreak of war in 1914, which collapsed the existing monetary infrastructure entirely and rendered the question of minor coinage temporarily moot.