5 francs Lavrillier essai Nickel 1934

Lavrillier's 5-franc nickel design was adopted for circulation in 1933, but the essai strikes of 1934 were produced as official trial pieces for the Monnaie de Paris archives and for sale to collectors — a standard French practice that generated revenue while documenting approved types. These differ from circulation strikes in surface finish and are almost invariably found in higher preservation states for that reason. Mintages for French essais of this period were typically in the low hundreds, making them considerably scarcer than the circulating issue despite being less worn.