5 centimes Lindauer Pré-série sans le mot ESSAI

The Lindauer cent series was designed by Edmond Lindauer and intended to replace the earlier Dupuis types, but the outbreak of war in August 1914 froze normal coin production and pushed most pre-series trials into obscurity. This particular piece belongs to a small group of pre-production strikes made before the standard ESSAI marking was adopted as protocol — meaning it circulates among specialists as an unlabeled trial, identifiable primarily through the GEM reference rather than any inscription declaring its status.

Full circulation of the Lindauer 5 centimes in nickel was itself short-lived; the metal was requisitioned for war production not long after introduction.