Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Essai de frappe pour la 2 francs Semeuse
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1973 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 2 Francs (2 FRF) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blank field with no central design, consistent with a striking test piece. The inscription ESSAI DE FRAPPE curves along the upper periphery in raised Latin capitals, identifying this piece as a striking trial. A small mintmark device appears at the base near the lower rim. The entirely plain field and absence of any figurative motif confirm this is a technical essay produced to assess press performance and planchet uniformity prior to production of the standard 2 Francs Semeuse coinage. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Semeuse design had been in continuous use on French coinage since Roty's original 1897 execution, but the transition to nickel for the 2-franc denomination in the early 1970s required new die work and formal approval trials. This piece is one of those essais de frappe — a production-authorization strike, not a pattern in the speculative sense, but a technical proof submitted through the Monnaie de Paris's internal validation process before full issue commenced.
Essais of this type were struck in strictly limited numbers for administrative and archival purposes.