The years immediately before WWI saw French monetary authorities wrestling with a persistent small-denomination problem — bronze centimes were costly to produce relative to their face value, and aluminium was attracting serious attention as a substitute. Dubois submitted this pattern as part of that broader evaluation. It went nowhere: France retained bronze for the 5 centimes through the war and beyond, and aluminium wouldn't reach French pocket change until the 1930s.
GEM references 15.8 and 15.9 indicate two distinct strikes — almost certainly differing in edge treatment or surface finish rather than die design.
The years immediately before WWI saw French monetary authorities wrestling with a persistent small-denomination problem — bronze centimes were costly to produce relative to their face value, and aluminium was attracting serious attention as a substitute. Dubois submitted this pattern as part of that broader evaluation. It went nowhere: France retained bronze for the 5 centimes through the war and beyond, and aluminium wouldn't reach French pocket change until the 1930s.
GEM references 15.8 and 15.9 indicate two distinct strikes — almost certainly differing in edge treatment or surface finish rather than die design.