5 Francs - Ranavalona III Trial strike

1895 was the last year Madagascar functioned as a sovereign state. France launched its second military expedition that year, and by October the Merina kingdom had capitulated — Ranavalona III reduced to a figurehead before her exile to Réunion and later Algiers in 1897. This trial strike almost certainly predates the conquest, produced at a moment when the Malagasy government still had reason to plan a coinage series that would never enter circulation.

As a pattern piece listed under KM# Pn1, no production run followed.