5 Francs - Louis II Essai

Louis II was 71 in 1945 and Monaco had spent the war years under Italian and then German occupation, leaving the principality's financial infrastructure in disorder. This piece is an essai — a trial strike submitted for official approval rather than a coin intended for circulation — and was never adopted for general issue. The aluminium composition reflects postwar material constraints that pushed mints across Europe toward lightweight alloys as silver remained scarce and tightly controlled through 1945 and into the following years.