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5 Francs Essai Piedfort
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | KM#PE3 |
| Obverse description | Left-facing draped bust of Marianne, the allegorical personification of the French Republic, wearing a winged helmet with a radiating headband and her hair styled in flowing waves gathered at the nape. In the lower field, a detailed maritime scene depicts sailing vessels at left and a modern steamship at right, evoking France's colonial trade. The engraver's signature BAZOR appears at the lower left, with the date 1953 prominently displayed in the exergue flanked by decorative mint marks. The legend REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE curves along the left and right periphery, with ESSAI inscribed discreetly in the right field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Piedfort essais from the early Fourth Republic are pattern pieces struck at double thickness to test die quality and design approval — not intended for circulation and never assigned a mintage figure in the conventional sense. The 1953 aluminium piedfort is particularly unusual given that aluminium was itself an emergency post-war composition choice for circulating French coinage, making a double-weight piedfort in the same metal an oddity born of austerity rather than prestige.